In the space of two years, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has emerged as England’s most indispensable player. Unfortunately, the Exeter Chiefs wing might also be their most injury-prone.

In more ways than one, Feyi-Waboso is coming to resemble Manu Tuilagi: the more England’s attacking game plan relies upon him, the less available he becomes. Now that an ankle injury has ruled the 23-year-old out of the remainder of England’s Nations Championship campaign, Feyi-Waboso has only been selected for 17 of England’s 36 matches since his debut against Italy in the 2024 Six Nations. His absence for the date against New Zealand on November 21 is a particular blow, given his past outstanding displays against the All Blacks.

The silver lining is that Feyi-Waboso is injuring different body parts. In this case, you cannot account for the effects of a hip-drop tackle by a 20st prop on to your lower leg, an impact that is going to hurt the most resilient of players. This can now be added to Feyi-Waboso’s Operation-style list of ailments including a dislocated shoulder (further aggravated in an England camp), a recurring hamstring injury and a fractured jaw.

Bad luck or not, it was curious that England did not withdraw Feyi-Waboso the moment Angus Bell landed awkwardly on him after 32 minutes. While the Wallabies prop was sent to the sin-bin, Feyi-Waboso was left to hobble around the pitch for the remaining eight minutes of the first half. Apparently you cannot run off a severe ankle injury. Who knew? You can imagine somewhere on a Devon farm, Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, must have been screaming blue murder at the television for Steve Borthwick to get him off the pitch.

In fairness to Borthwick, you can understand why he was so reluctant to withdraw Feyi-Waboso, who had been in storming form until that point. Even with an early disallowed try, Feyi-Waboso made 113 metres, beating seven defenders with not even half a game at full health.

These were not just metres gained in the empty wide channels. Instead, Feyi-Waboso came infield looking for work and received it in abundance, attacking soft shoulders wherever he could find them. Tommy Freeman can perform a similar role but no other English wing can match Feyi-Waboso’s explosive power – he is reported to bench 165kg and squat 230kg – and ability to generate momentum from a standing start.

There are several intricate parts to Lee Blackett’s attacking system, but in the first half at the Allianz Stadium it often boiled down to “give it to Manny”. This is not without merit. Feyi-Waboso has beaten 30 defenders and gained 335 metres in his last three games, including the half against Australia. Good things tend to happen when Feyi-Waboso has the ball in hand, even if he committed a couple of turnovers.

Just as stark are the numbers when Feyi-Waboso is not on the field. According to data from Stats Perform, England perform worse in every single attacking metric when Feyi-Waboso is absent from the teamsheet. Of particular note, England gain on average 51 more metres and enjoy nearly five per cent more gain-line success with Feyi-Waboso in the team.

England’s other potentially world-class players – Joe Heyes, Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Fin Smith – are impactful in other ways but they all have replacements who ensure there is no cliff-edge drop-off. Noah Caluori possesses the same athletic profile as Feyi-Waboso, but he is far from the finished product, particularly in terms of game understanding. Cadan Murley and Tobias Elliott, the other wings, have their own qualities but neither will become the focal point of England’s attack. As much as Henry Pollock may think otherwise after his two-try cameo as Feyi-Waboso’s replacement on the wing, he is not the long-term solution either.

And this is the bind for Blackett and Borthwick to ponder. Can England afford to build their attack around a player who keeps getting dinged up? And what is the alternative when he is not around? Past England coaches fell into this same trap waiting for Tuilagi during whose absences the entire attacking structure seemed to be in stasis. With the World Cup less than 12 months away, England must figure out how to break the Manny malediction.