Six Nations 2024: Some Welsh coaches 'not too disappointed' by Immanuel Feyi-Waboso choice
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Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was part of the Wales Under-18s squad in 2020
Guinness Six Nations 2024: Wales v Scotland |
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Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 3 February Kick-off: 16:45 GMT |
Coverage: Live on BBC One, S4C, BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru & live text on the BBC Sport website and app. Highlights on Scrum V, Sunday, BBC Two Wales and online, 4 February and later on demand |
Warren Gatland says some Welsh coaches were not too disappointed Exeter wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has chosen to play for England.
Feyi-Waboso, 21, was born and brought up in Cardiff but plays for the English Premiership club.
He has decided to opt for England after telling Wales he did not want to be selected for the 2024 Six Nations.
"He's definitely got some talent, there's no doubt about it, he's as green as anything," said Gatland.
The Cardiff-born winger represented Wales at age-grade level but qualifies for England through family heritage.
Feyi-Waboso moved from Cardiff to Wasps in 2022 before switching to Exeter later that year after Wasps' demise.
His speed, strength and footwork make him one of the most dangerous wingers in the Premiership. He has scored five tries in the league this season, with his most recent being a spectacular acrobatic finish against Northampton.
As well as being a key player in the rebuilding of Exeter's youthful team, he is also studying for a medical degree at Exeter University.
"He's obviously had an approach from England, and he's decided to take that path," said Gatland.
"In saying that, there's a few Welsh coaches that when they heard he'd decided that, and he was born and bred in Cardiff, some of their comments weren't that positive about him.
"If he doesn't want to play for Wales, you can understand what the Welsh are like about that, so they weren't too disappointed about him making that decision."
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Gatland revealed he had not spoken personally to Feyi-Waboso saying his Wales defence coach Mike Forshaw was told by Feyi-Waboso he "wanted to go down the English route".
England head coach Steve Borthwick held several conversations with the player and named him in the Six Nations training squad on Wednesday.
"I just hope that if they do select him that they stick with him, they've got a lot of depth in terms of that back three position," said Gatland.
"We saw that with last year's Six Nations they selected Ollie Hassell-Collins, he had one game and now he's been thrown out a bit like water from a bath.
"If he goes down that road you'd like to think that they would stick with him."
Captain Jenkins
Exeter currently on their books have a Welsh-born player who has opted for England, a five-times capped centre in Joe Hawkins who is now ineligible for Wales following his summer move from Ospreys because he has less than 25 caps, and the new Wales captain.
Feyi-Waboso's Exeter team-mate Dafydd Jenkins has been named Wales skipper for the tournament with World Cup co-captains Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake injured.
Lock Jenkins is now in line to become the second youngest men's player to lead Wales in a match after Sir Gareth Edwards captained his country aged 20 back in 1968.
That is if Jenkins can oust World Cup first-choice lock duo Adam Beard and Will Rowlands.
"There's a lot of competition in that second row but I definitely see him (Jenkins) as one for the future," said Gatland.
"I expect, in the next three or four years, that by the time the next World Cup comes around, he's going to be a definite starter and he's putting a lot of pressure on at the moment.
"We're trying to develop a lot of the youngsters at the moment in this group over the next three or four years."
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