England are carefully managing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tom Curry to maximize their availability for next year's Rugby World Cup in Australia. Feyi-Waboso will miss the remainder of the autumn after sustaining an ankle injury in Sunday's 44-22 victory over Australia, while Curry sits out all four Nations Championship matches due to an aggravated hip condition.
Under a new agreement, head coach Steve Borthwick now has final say over workload and medical matters for the 25-member elite player squad. Assistant coach Sir Kevin Sinfield emphasized the importance of collaboration between club and country, describing Feyi-Waboso's performance as "world class" and comparing him to Jason Robinson.
With Feyi-Waboso sidelined, Gloucester's Will Joseph is among candidates to fill the wing vacancy against Japan. Sinfield acknowledged the difficulty of replacing Feyi-Waboso's unique attacking threat, urging any replacement to "bring the best of themselves" rather than attempt a like-for-like substitution.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing