England are hopeful George Furbank and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso will be back for the business end of the Six Nations campaign to bolster their title push after keeping their hopes alive with victory against France.
The Northampton full-back Furbank has been out of action since December with a broken arm while Feyi-Waboso is nursing a shoulder injury and both were considered in danger of missing out on the entire championship. But after the last‑gasp win on Saturday kick‑started England’s campaign Steve Borthwick revealed both players could yet return for his side’s run-in.
The head coach heralded the 26-25 victory against France as evidence of his side’s improvement and, after two rounds of the Six Nations, England sit third in the table with six points, four behind the leaders Ireland, and can consider themselves in the title race.
“I’m really happy for the players that they’ve got the win,” Borthwick said. “Everybody does want that thing that is tangible and a win is tangible, and the progress then is tangible.”
Feyi-Waboso was expected to have surgery on his dislocated shoulder and miss the Six Nations but, after forgoing the operation he is “rehabbing well”, Borthwick revealed, and will potentially be available next month. The Exeter wing was in two minds whether to have surgery and as a recipient of an enhanced England contract, was in consultation with Borthwick and his backroom staff as to the best course of action. The Exeter director of rugby, Rob Baxter, admitted those discussions had slowed the process down but avoiding surgery gives Feyi‑Waboso a chance of featuring in this year’s competition.
Furbank could also feature, depending on the outcome of a specialist’s report. In his absence, both Freddie Steward and Marcus Smith have started at full-back – the latter moved to the No 15 jersey against France with Fin Smith deployed at fly-half – and could find his place in the side under threat if Furbank returns to fitness.
“[George] is going well,” said Borthwick, who could also welcome Alex Dombrandt and Jack van Poortvliet back to fitness. “He had a re-X-ray on his arm last week and we are waiting on the specialist to give his view on that. Hopefully he might be available at the end of the tournament but we are still waiting for the specialist’s report.”
England players have been allowed to return home during the first part of the first rest week and will reconvene at their Bagshot base on Wednesday to begin plotting a first Calcutta Cup win since 2020 on Saturday week. Fixtures against Italy at home and Wales away follow and though Ireland have proved the team to beat so far as the only side to win their first two matches, England remain in the hunt.
“You’ve got to win your home games in this tournament; we’ve got two more home games in this competition – that will put us in good stead,” said Elliot Daly, whose try proved decisive against France. “We haven’t beaten Scotland the past four times, so we want to make sure we’re ready for them coming down here and try to get a result.”
