Feyi-Waboso withdrawal ‘perplexing’ – Baxter

Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter says the process behind a first-half incident with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Jacob Stockdale in the Challenge Cup semi-final defeat at Ulster was “perplexing”.

Ulster wing Stockdale was sent to the sin-bin 10 minutes before half-time for a high tackle on opposite number Feyi-Waboso

England international Feyi-Waboso, who had scored four tries in as many matches since recovering from a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the Six Nations, passed his head injury assessment [HIA] but, according to Baxter, was not allowed to return to the game after being reviewed by an independent doctor.

Stockdale was replaced by Ethan McIlroy at half-time after Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said he “picked up a head knock”.

Baxter said he “had to be a little bit careful”, but that it was “really odd” and a “perplexing one”, and he questioned the process for players who pick up head injuries.

“You have a refereeing decision with an official judgement of minimal head contact, and most of the contact through the shoulder,” Baxter said.

“Our player leaves the field and passes his HIA, but is not allowed to go back on because the independent doctor says the actions on the field make it an immediate removal.

“The Ulster player doesn’t come back on with a damaged face. It doesn’t add up, does it?”

Baxter said that “something is wrong in that process” and said “there’s a sphere of long things” that bothered him about the incident.

“Obviously it creates a bit of frustration for us, but hopefully the positive out of it is Manny [Feyi-Waboso] passed his HIA, and hopefully that means the process is ongoing now and we can look to try and get him back next week.”

Exeter, who sit fourth in the Prem Rugby table, will look to bounce back at home to Bath next week and Baxter believes the pressure of the semi-final could be beneficial in the final games of the season.

“Experiencing these things now together is going to be a very important part of our kind of journey going forward,” he said.

“I’ll have to have a really good think about how we approach it when we get back into training, because I don’t want to just take pressure off the lads to allow them to feel free.

“I know from experience, you’ve just got to start thriving under pressure and you’ve got to start thriving in this environment.”