Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is out for the autumn, and so is Tom Curry. Three more England players miss Japan.
Winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (ankle) and flanker Tom Curry (hip) will miss the rest of England’s Nations Championship campaign, Sky Sports and RUCK reported on Monday 9 November. Seb Atkinson, Ollie Chessum and George Furbank sit out the Japan Test on 14 November.
Head coach Steve Borthwick has called in six players. One of them may have to fill the gap a back-rower plugged on Sunday. So who starts on the wing against Japan?
Borthwick has already cooled talk of Henry Pollock staying out wide. “It’s not that I’m refraining from playing [Pollock] on the wing, I think he might be needed in the back row,” he said after the Australia game, the Telegraph reported.
Key facts (as of Monday 9 November 2026)
- Out for the autumn: Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs, right ankle), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, hip)
- Miss Japan, listed in rehabilitation: Seb Atkinson (Gloucester, hip), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, shoulder), George Furbank (Harlequins, groin)
- Called in: Noah Caluori, Max Ojomoh, Max Hicks, Tobias Elliott, Archie McParland, Jack Kenningham
- Also gone from the squad: Harry Randall, no reason given
- Next: Japan on Saturday 14 November (4.40pm, ITV1), New Zealand on Saturday 21 November, both at Allianz Stadium
Feyi-Waboso injury: a hip-drop, then a protective boot
Feyi-Waboso hurt his right ankle in the first half of the 45-22 win over Australia at Allianz Stadium on Sunday 8 November. The damage came from a hip-drop tackle by Wallabies prop Angus Bell, who was sin-binned for it.
Before going off, the Exeter wing was the game’s top metre-maker: 113 metres from eight carries, plus a try chalked off. By the final whistle he was wearing a protective boot.
Curry never reached Sunday. The Sale Sharks flanker hurt his hip in training last week and took himself out of the session. RUCK reports the injury is understood not to have come from contact.
Chessum’s shoulder is the one to watch
Atkinson, the Gloucester centre, limped off against Australia in the second half with a hip problem. Chessum has a shoulder injury and Furbank a groin issue.
All three sit under rehabilitation in the 36-player training squad, rather than outside it. Sky Sports says England are optimistic about having the trio back for New Zealand on 21 November.
RUCK rates Chessum, the Leicester Tigers captain, among Borthwick’s first picks, whether he plays at lock or on the blindside.
Caluori leads the six called in
Noah Caluori, the Saracens wing, takes Feyi-Waboso’s place after scoring two tries for England A against an Argentina XV on Friday. Jack Kenningham covers Curry, and Max Ojomoh, Max Hicks, Tobias Elliott and Archie McParland complete the six.
Pollock or a specialist on the wing?
Borthwick picked a six-two bench against Australia, with Ben Spencer and Marcus Smith the only replacement backs. So Henry Pollock went from the back row to the wing at half-time, and scored twice.
The new squad list puts Pollock back among the forwards. That points towards Caluori, who would win his third cap; he made his senior debut against Fiji in July, Sky Sports notes.
Asked about starting Pollock on the wing in future, Borthwick said: “It would be a consideration.”
The counter-case: Pollock scored two tries in 40 minutes out wide. Cadan Murley and Tommy Freeman are among the other 15 backs Borthwick can pick from.
What happens next
Japan come to Allianz Stadium at 4.40pm on Saturday 14 November, with ITV1 showing it live. New Zealand follow a week later; the dates are on the England fixtures page.
The Japan team settles the wing for a week. If Chessum is fit for New Zealand, does Pollock go back to the back row, or stay on the wing where he scored twice?
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