Feyi-Waboso reveals fan threw drink at him before risking broken jaw in Prem final

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has revealed a Bath fan threw a drink over him, pushed him and hurled a cup in his face during Exeter’s 27-26 Gallagher Premiership play-off victory at the Recreation Ground on June 13 — an incident that prompted the England wing to grab the supporter’s shirt in response.

Feyi-Waboso was sitting in the stands alongside other injured and non-selected Exeter players when the altercation occurred at the final whistle. “He was absolutely fine during the match, but as soon as he was leaving he chucked a drink over me, pushed me and threw the cup in my face,” the 23-year-old said. “What can you do apart from rip his shirt? What can you do? So that’s it.”

The incident adds context to a remarkable fortnight for Feyi-Waboso, who had broken his jaw against Leicester only three weeks before the final and underwent surgery days later. Despite medical advice that a direct blow could cause the repair to fail, he chose to play in Exeter’s 26-17 defeat by Northampton at Allianz Stadium on Saturday — just two and a half weeks post-operation.

“We sat down with the surgeon, England and the Chiefs,” he said. “Eventually it was all my decision, but they just laid the information out to me. They said take a direct blow to the jaw and it’s likely the repair is going to fail, but you can try.”

The original plan had been for Feyi-Waboso to return for England’s Test against South Africa on July 4 — itself a tight timeline of four to five weeks post-surgery — but the pull of a Twickenham final in Exeter colours led him to accelerate his comeback at considerable personal risk.

“Going into the game I was like, ‘what if my jaw breaks?’ But it’s a final, you have to do it,” he said. “You just have to go full send and hope that the jaw stays intact and it did. I’m just happy that it hasn’t jeopardised my chances to be away with England.”

Feyi-Waboso emerged from the final with a wound above his left eye that required stitches but is otherwise cleared to join England’s summer tour against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina next month.

His relief at avoiding a setback was tempered by Exeter’s defeat. The Chiefs led 17-14 going into the final quarter before conceding two tries to George Hendy. “Gutted, disappointed, a lot of overriding feelings,” Feyi-Waboso said. “I feel like we could have done a lot better, but it is what it is.”