Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has confirmed he was involved in an altercation with a Bath fan at the Recreation Ground a week ago that was sparked when a drink was thrown at him.
The incident took place at the end of Exeter’s 27-26 Gallagher Prem play-off victory on June 13 when Feyi-Waboso was sitting in the stands supporting the team alongside other injured and non-selected Chiefs players.
The England wing was recovering from a broken jaw but chose to risk a refracture in order to play in Saturday’s final, which ended in a 26-17 defeat by Northampton at Allianz Stadium.
“One of the fans when we were celebrating after, he was leaving at the time,” Feyi-Waboso said.
“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. What can you do apart from rip his shirt? What can you do? So that’s it.”
Feyi-Waboso emerged from Prem final with a wound over his left eye that required stitches but otherwise with a clean bill of health, clearing him to take part in England’s Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina next month.
The 23-year-old broke his jaw against Leicester only three weeks ago and after undergoing surgery several days later he faced a race against time to be fully fit to take on the Springboks on July 4, never mind Northampton.
But the pull of a Twickenham appearance in Exeter colours meant he was willing to gamble, even if it could potentially rule him out of England’s summer tour.
“We were taking it week by week,” Feyi-Waboso said. “You never know that you’re going to get to the final but when the boys put in an unbelievable shift against Bath, we had to start asking the questions of the surgeons.
“We were planning on the first game being hopefully South Africa. That would have been four or five weeks post-op and even then the chances of my jaw healing weren’t high. Two and a half weeks post-op is even worse than that.
“We sat down with the surgeon, England and the Chiefs. 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.
“Going into the game I was like, ‘what if my jaw breaks?’ But it’s a final, you have to do it.
“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’s relief at avoiding another injury setback was offset by Exeter’s defeat after they relinquished by a 17-14 lead by leaking two final-quarter tries to George Hendy.
“Gutted, disappointed, a lot of overriding feelings,” he said. “I feel like we could have done a lot better, but it is what it is.”
