Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s return has changed the feel of Exeter’s Premiership final week.
The England wing has been cleared to play against Northampton Saints at Twickenham on Saturday, barely a fortnight after undergoing surgery on a jaw injury sustained late in Exeter’s regular-season run. For a Chiefs side who have spent the past month turning the improbable into something tangible, it is a sizeable late lift.
Rob Baxter’s side were already carrying the momentum of that dramatic semi-final win at Bath. Now they are set to regain one of the most explosive backs in the league for the match that decides the title, with Ethan Roots also expected to come back into the frame after completing head injury protocols and Campbell Ridl available after a knee issue.
Why the clearance matters
Feyi-Waboso’s availability is not just a selection boost. It gives Exeter a different kind of threat against a Northampton team whose attacking ceiling has been one of the major themes of the season.
Saints will still arrive with the stronger favourite’s tag, not least because their attacking rhythm and finishing power have made them such a difficult side to live with. ReadRugbyUnion looked at that emotional edge earlier this week in Tommy Freeman’s Northampton final build-up, but Exeter’s best chance was never likely to be built on containment alone.
Baxter’s public message has been clear enough: Exeter cannot allow the final to become Northampton’s attack against Exeter’s defence. With Feyi-Waboso available, that becomes more than a line from a press conference. It becomes a genuine tactical possibility.
He gives Exeter kick-return bite, first-phase acceleration and the sort of broken-field danger that can alter defensive spacing before he even touches the ball. Northampton will still back their system, but they now have another problem to solve.
The England layer
There is also a wider England thread running through this decision. Feyi-Waboso is on an enhanced England contract, which means club, country and player welfare all sit in the same conversation whenever a close-call return is being considered.
According to reporting from The Guardian and RugbyPass, England’s medical staff had no objection to the winger’s return, with the final decision resting with the player after the relevant assessments. That distinction matters. This is not a club forcing a star name back for a final. It is a player declaring himself ready once the medical process had run its course.
For Steve Borthwick, it also keeps one of England’s most dangerous back-three options on course before the summer Tests. ReadRugbyUnion has already examined how England’s wider summer planning is being shaped through the England XV audition against France, and Feyi-Waboso’s match sharpness at Twickenham could become part of that same selection picture.
Exeter have their edge back
The scale of Exeter’s turnaround still deserves some perspective. This is a side who were not widely tipped to be here after finishing ninth last season, and yet Baxter has dragged them back to the domestic showpiece through set-piece steel, defensive resilience and a growing belief that the rebuild has teeth.
That wider Exeter reset has been bubbling for months, from the club’s recruitment to the bigger-picture questions around what comes next. Baxter’s comments on investment and the next phase of the Chiefs project gave an early window into that mood, as covered in ReadRugbyUnion’s Exeter rebuild piece.
A title this weekend would accelerate that story dramatically. A final defeat would not erase the progress, but it would leave Exeter wondering whether one of the best late-season charges in recent Premiership memory slipped by without silverware.
Feyi-Waboso’s return does not make Exeter favourites. Northampton have earned that status over the campaign and have the attacking tools to justify it. What it does do is sharpen the final.
Exeter now go to Twickenham with their most direct game-breaker back on the team sheet, their England contingent strengthening at the right moment, and Baxter with another attacking card to play. For a final that already had enough narrative, that is a proper late twist.
