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England's Feyi-Waboso out of South Africa match / Photo: © AFP
England's Feyi-Waboso out of South Africa match
England wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been ruled out of facing world champions South Africa after suffering a head injury during Saturday's loss at home to Australia.
Feyi-Waboso was hurt trying to prevent the Wallabies from scoring a try in the 50th minute of the dramatic 42-37 defeat, with team management announcing Sunday he had been withdrawn from a 36-man squad assembled ahead of the November 16 clash with the Springboks at Twickenham.
England already knew they would be missing Tom Curry for the centrepiece of their November campaign after the flanker was knocked out making a tackle against Australia.
Bath's Ted Hill has been called up as back row cover, with Tom Roebuck of Sale added to the squad in Feyi-Waboso's absence.
A repeat of last year's World Cup semi-final, which South Africa edged 16-15, comes with England on a run of four successive defeats after losses to both New Zealand and Australia in their opening two November fixtures.
Feyi-Waboso only made his Test debut in the Six Nations but has forged a place in the starting side with five tries in eight appearances.
England led Australia 15-3 when Curry went off after being struck by Rob Valentini's knee and they promptly lost control of the breakdown without the loose forward.
Ben Curry, Tom's twin brother, and Sam Underhill will now compete for the openside flanker berth, with Ollie Sleightholme, who scored two tries off the bench against the Wallabies, in line to replace Feyi-Waboso.
England need to beat the Springboks to revive their end-of-year campaign, with Steve Borthwick's men rounding off 2024 against Japan a week later.
The Red Rose brigade's run of five defeats in six games has seen England repeatedly squander winning positions, with Saturday's stoppage-time loss to Australia the most blatant example yet.
"We're testing fans' patience, testing our patience," admitted England No 8 Ben Earl. "It feels like we won the game twice against Australia and then managed to lose it. Frustrating.
"Not the same old problems, different problems, but the same overwhelming feeling of another game that we've let slip. So food for thought."
D.Robinson--SFF
