Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been in a race against time to make it to Australia with the British and Irish Lions but any lingering hopes of that ended with a red card in an England XV defeat to a France XV at Allianz Stadium.
Sidelined for six months with a dislocated shoulder he suffered against Sale in December, the winger was looking to make up for lost time in his first game back but instead produced a horror high tackle on Antoine Hastoy in the first half of the 26-24 loss.
His lack of game time had effectively ended any hopes of a Lions call-up, but with a strong showing here and on England’s tour of Argentina, there were hopes that the 22-year-old might make a case for being next in line in case of injury.
Steve Borthwick said before the game that Feyi-Waboso had been “full of enthusiasm and full of energy” ahead of his return to action.
And yet in the half-hour he had on the pitch, the rust was obvious. A minute in he knocked the ball on in the French in-goal area when it seemed he would make a dream comeback.
Another knock-on followed midway through the first half before the key moment of the match. After a grubber through that he was never going to be able to chase down, the Exeter winger raced to try to close down Hastoy.
In a rush of blood he leapt and caught the La Rochelle fly half clear around the neck in the sort of old-fashioned clothesline tackle that has been eradicated from the game.
Even in the era of bunker reviews and 20-minute red cards, this should have resulted in instant permanent exclusion.
Instead, Feyi-Waboso was shown a yellow card which was quickly upgraded to red, with England down to 14 for 20 minutes rather than 50.
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He will face a disciplinary hearing that will surely result in a ban that would keep him out of at least the Argentinian portion of England’s summer tour, with Borthwick admitting the winger was distraught at the incident.
“He’s gutted,” said Borthwick. “You all know Manny. He’s a good guy who tries his heart out. We’ll all get round him and find out the situation in the next 24 hours.”
Away from the red card, there were positives for Borthwick to take, as his side overcame an early 12-0 lead to take control of the game.
They managed 24 unanswered points in front of the 34,129 supporters at a humid Allianz Stadium. But late tries from Paul Mallez and Romain Taofifenua ensured it was France’s day, Hastoy converting with the clock in the red to earn a small measure of revenge for the one-point defeat they suffered here during the Six Nations.
After Feyi-Waboso’s early knock-on, it was France who struck first, Gaetan Barlot taking advantage of consecutive maul penalties to force his way over.
Les Bleus made it 12-0 after a gliding run from the classy Theo Attissogbe, setting up Pau teammate Hugo Auradou, even if there looked to be a doubt over the grounding.
England responded through Tom Willis from close range after some extended pressure, although George Ford, co-captain on the day, was fortunate to be awarded the conversion after the shot clock in the stadium had expired well before he put boot to ball.
That was quickly followed by a try from Alex Coles as the French tackles started to slip off. Ford’s conversion was just wide this time.
Even with Feyi-Waboso seeing yellow then red, the home side were in the ascendancy and they hit the front on the stroke of half-time.
Debutant Seb Atkinson juggled a ball in midfield causing the French defence to stutter. When he regathered and burst through, it seemed he would score himself but he ended up offloading to another newcomer, Joe Carpenter, for the third try.
Leading 19-12 at the break, France looked to have levelled just before the hour-mark with a stunning try from Leo Berdeu’s brilliant high-ball catch when Emilien Gailleton burst through a gap and sent Nolann Le Garrec over for a try.
That was ruled out as Cameron Woki was spotted having connected with Jamie George’s head at a ruck in the build-up – an incident missed by the officials and highlighted by the England co-captain.
The fact that Woki’s yellow card was later upgraded to red was a shock when compared to the Feyi-Waboso incident.
England looked to be home and dry when Alex Dombrandt crashed over on the right with 20 minutes remaining, but they could not deliver the killer blow.
Mallez’s try from a rolling maul set up a grandstand finish, and after some late English indiscipline, the experienced Taofifenua forced his way over and Hastoy converted from in front.
Having seen Argentina beat the Lions in Dublin on Friday night, England know the scale of the task that now awaits them in La Plata and San Juan. That challenge will now almost certainly be without one of their biggest X-factors.
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