‘England must use ‘superstar’ Feyi-Waboso more if they want to be true sum of their parts’

There was a lot to like for England supporters in terms of the comprehensive nature of the victory over Australia that laid the foundations for their autumn but also a sense of frustration in one key regard.

Why couldn’t we have seen more of Manny Feyi-Waboso?

The one first half counter-attack that lacerated the Wallabies’ defence whet the appetite for more from the Prem’s leading try-scorer but nothing followed.

You can blame the damp conditions, you can blame Tommy Freeman’s reluctance to pass but ultimately it left the armchair fan – and plenty inside the Allianz Stadium – feeling like they were sold a little short.

Feyi-Waboso carried the ball six times against Australia, half the number of Tommy Freeman and Ben Earl (Photo Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Should that matter? It is a professional game after all and England did a highly professional job on Australia. If the way to a clean sweep this November and even more bountiful riches beyond revolves around largely ignoring your most lethal attacking threat then so what?

But if England want to be the true sum of their parts – and they will almost certainly need to be if they are to beat the All Blacks in a fortnight – they need to find ways to bring Feyi-Waboso into the game more.

Down Exeter way, it is a situation the coaching staff pondered long and hard over in the summer.

He’s a phenomenally powerful athlete, low centre of gravity, unbelievably strong in contact, aerially outstanding, he’s got everything.

The Chiefs knew they had a golden talent on their hands, the question for them was how to make the most of him.

“He’s a phenomenally powerful athlete, low centre of gravity, unbelievably strong in contact, aerially outstanding, he’s got everything,” says Dave Walder, the Exeter attack coach.

“If you put Manny in the team he can chase kicks – he’s good at chasing kicks – but I’d say that’s his extra strength rather than his super strength. The super strength is on the ball. So the key thing is how many times can you get him on the ball?

“I wanted to make sure that if he’s getting eight or ten touches a game, could we get him 12 or 14 touches a game by how we play. And then also, at the right time, make sure he’s dragging defenders away to open holes for other people.

“It’s getting the balance because you want him on the ball more than you want him off the ball.”

Feyi-Waboso has made a flying start to the domestic season with seven tries in five games for Exeter (Photo Stephen White – CameraSport via Getty Images)

Exeter redrew their game plan to ensure Feyi-Waboso – and Paul Brown-Bampoe on the other wing – were involved as much as possible as ball carriers, rather than kick chasers.

The upshot is that a Chiefs team that limped home last but one in the table season are off to a flier in third this season having scored 23 tries in five games. Feyi-Waboso has seven of them.

The heat map of those tries is instructive.

It took him just three minutes of the new season to open his account at Northampton. That came as an auxiliary scrum-half, bursting away from an unpoliced midfield ruck on the 22m line to arc his way over.

He added a second in that game with a run-in – or more of a hobble-in with cramp taking effect – out on the right wing.

Against Newcastle, he scored a hat-trick – the first from a ruck close to the goal-line under the crossbar when he simply outmuscled the Red Bulls defence to score and the other two catching cross-kicks out on the right wing.

He’s a joy to coach. He’s great to work with. The danger is trying to give him too much…I’d say don’t overcoach him.

His try against Harlequins was another cross-kick finish out on the right, this time with a bit of muscle and momentum to beat the last defender.

The seventh of the season against Gloucester saw three would-be tacklers left in his wake as he finished out on the right.

So while he is used as a traditional wing to provide the width most of the time, he also has a licence to roam.

“He’s pretty good at finding the ball,” said Walder. “It’s just making sure that when he is holding the wing, the ball finds him out there because there’s no point in being out there if he’s not going to get it.”

Walder’s assessment is that Lee Blackett, England’s attack coach, should enjoy working with a 22-year-old of such extravagant gifts but his advice is not to clutter his head with too much.

The 22-year-old wing has scored five tries in his first 10 Tests, including three in three against New Zealand (Photo Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Feyi-Waboso is a smart individual – he balances his rugby with studying for a medical degree – but Walder thinks that in a rugby sense at least it is best not to overload him and allow his natural talent run free instead.

“He’s a joy to coach. He’s great to work with. The danger is trying to give him too much,” said Walder, the former England under-20s attack coach.

“I think you’ve just got to let him be who he is, try to encourage him and try to show him how he can get his hands on the ball. I’d say don’t overcoach him.”

He is back fully fit again after a season interrupted by a serious shoulder injury which cost him a likely Lions invitation.

By the time he was fully functional again, Andy Farrell already had his squad drawn up leaving Feyi-Waboso to make do with a summer with England.

It was an eventful one with a red card against France A seeing him miss the Argentina series through suspension before he returned against USA in the final match of the Americas tour in a game interrupted by lightning.

As long as he’s encouraged to be himself and play, he can be a world superstar,

At Test level, it is easy to forget these are still early days for Feyi-Waboso. He is only 10 caps into his England career.

But in that short space of time he has already scored five tries. Three of those have come against New Zealand who, after Fiji this weekend, will represent the acid test of England’s autumn.

He has given notice already of what he can do against the best sides in the world. It can only be in England’s interests to involve him more.

Really good sides know how to use all of their assets – and Fey-Waboso is some asset. The sky is the limit for him.

“As long as he’s encouraged to be himself and play, he can be a world superstar,” said Walder.