Feyi-Waboso Returns in Style, Helps Exeter Reach Challenge Cup Quarter-Finals

Two months of frustration ended in the most emphatic fashion for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso on Saturday, as the England winger's breathtaking solo try sealed Exeter Chiefs' place in the EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-finals following a hard-fought victory over Munster at Sandy Park.

Feyi-Waboso had not played competitively since February, having suffered a hamstring injury during England's training camp ahead of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations. The 23-year-old, who had already racked up nine tries in the 2025/26 season before that setback, needed little time to remind everyone of his qualities. The decisive moment came when flanker Ross Vintcent won a turnover and fed the winger on the outside; what followed was vintage Feyi-Waboso, dancing past defender after defender before dotting down for what proved a killer score.

Centre Will Rigg matched him for spectacle, intercepting a Munster pass and running three-quarters the length of Sandy Park to touch down. Harvey Skinner slotted the conversions while Henry Slade, returning to the midfield following the birth of his daughter the previous week, added penalties to push Exeter clear. Munster mounted a late charge that briefly threatened to alter the scoreline, but Exeter held firm.

Director of rugby Rob Baxter had spoken carefully in the build-up about managing Feyi-Waboso's reintegration. "We've just got to see how he goes through training, but he was in pretty much full training last week, he's in full training this week, so that makes him available to play," Baxter said. He had also flagged the difficulty of the Munster assignment: "Munster are a very proud European side. We've had some fierce contests with them in the past and it's certainly not going to be any different this weekend. I'm expecting a real ferocious contest in most areas of the game this weekend."

The warning was well founded. Munster head coach Clayton McMillan had arrived in Devon demanding physicality, insisting, "We are going to need our big boys to really roll up their sleeves." But despite a stronger second-half showing, Munster were undone by a dismal first-half display that Exeter punished emphatically.

The result extended a remarkable head-to-head sequence between the two clubs: the away side has never won a meeting between Exeter and Munster, with the sole exception being a draw in 2018. Saturday's defeat continued a 2026 that has been bleak for Munster on the road; they had lost all five of their away fixtures in the calendar year heading into the game, including both legs of a recent URC tour of South Africa against the Bulls and the Sharks.

The Challenge Cup appearance itself underlined how far Munster's European fortunes have fallen. This was their first campaign in the second-tier competition since 2011, having dropped out of the Investec Champions Cup following a 29-31 defeat to Castres at Thomond Park.

Exeter named a formidable side for the occasion. Captain Dafydd Jenkins returned from a mandatory rest week to lead the lineout alongside Andrea Zambonin, while the back row of Tom Hooper, Vintcent and Greg Fisilau provided the forward platform from which the backs flourished. Stephen Varney started at scrum-half alongside Skinner at ten, both having contributed a try and try assist respectively in the previous weekend's 38-14 Premiership victory over Newcastle Red Bulls.

For Feyi-Waboso personally, the performance carried extra weight. The winger, who joined Exeter in October 2022 following Wasps' collapse, set a European Rugby Champions Cup record in 2024 by beating 13 defenders in a single match against Bath and was named in the Premiership Team of the Season that year. Saturday's return, played in the blustery conditions Storm David delivered to Sandy Park, suggested the competition has a long way still to go with him fit and in the Exeter backline.