While rugby players declaring for countries other than the ones they were born in in a regular occurrence, there has been some controversy surrounding one winger's decision to declare for England in recent times.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was born and raised in Wales, living in the country until the age of 19 when he joined Wasps. In fact, he only moved to England in order to study medicine, having been denied the opportunity to do so in Cardiff.
The player would join Exeter last year after Wasps folded and it was expected that he would make his way into the Wales squad for the 2024 Six Nations having previously represented them at underage level.
However, he would then take the rather unexpected decision to declare for England. It was a move that resulted in a frank response from the Welsh camp. He would go on to make his debut for Steve Borthwick's side against Wales last weekend.
Feyi-Waboso has now opened up on that controversial move.
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Welsh-born winger explains controversial England move
While Immanuel Feyi-Waboso's links to England had been questioned, the player himself has admitted that it is a move he has always been considering.
Speaking after making his debut against Wales, the winger opened up on how his international decision came about.
The first conversation I had with Steve was after Northampton away, and that wasn’t even a good game for me. That was a terrible game for me!
He rang me after that and said I’m on his radar. I was really shocked at the call, and I kind of thought he was just saying I’m in his mind, but obviously, I’m here now.
It’s always been something to think about. I moved to England. A lot of my family are English.
My grandmother [Margaret Spence Taylor] is English and lives in Gloucester. My dad [Andrew] is half-English, and my mum’s Nigerian.
As soon as I got into England, it was a decision to think about, but I thought it would be a lot further in the future.
I blocked out a lot of the noise (around the decision). I have a lot of good people around me, like family. They helped my decision and definitely didn’t force my hand. It was definitely my decision.
At 21- years old, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso looks set to have a long career with England.
It would certainly ad a bit of extra spice to any fixtures against Wales over the coming years.
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