The late, great Jonah Lomu had a saying: ‘When you’ve got a piano, the forwards lift it and the wingers play it.’
His words are music to the ears of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, fingers poised over an electric keyboard at England’s warm-weather training base in Spain.
‘It’s pretty cool that Jonah Lomu said that,’ the musical winger tells Mail Sport. ‘I’m moving house after the autumn series and I’m going to try and get a proper piano so I can play a bit more. I like to play a couple of Ludovico Einaudi songs, like Nuvole Bianche. One day I’ll get a grand piano, have it as a centre piece. Not just yet, though… all my savings have gone on the house!’
Feyi-Waboso took up the piano during lockdown, teaching himself through YouTube tutorials. Anyone who has followed his short rugby career will vouch that he is a fast learner.
Last year, he was playing in a National League One relegation decider for Taunton Titans, in front of fewer than 1,000 fans. Now he is England’s most dangerous attacking runner and central to their hopes of beating the world’s best at Twickenham over the coming weeks.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was at university a year ago and now he is an England international
He is England’s most dangerous attacking runner and central to their hopes of beating the world’s best at Twickenham
Feyi-Waboso tells Mail Sport that he is going to try and get a proper piano so he can play a bit more
‘This time last year I was living in university accommodation — East Park at Exeter — I had a portable keyboard that you could just plug in and play through your headphones,’ explains the 21-year-old. ‘Life has changed quite a lot! Twelve months ago, it wasn’t even an aim of mine to be in the England squad… I was just trying to get myself into the Exeter team.
‘I loved going to all those new places with England over the summer. Japan was a crazy place, I miss their toilets with the heated seats! It was weird in New Zealand, previewing guys like Rieko Ioane, who I’d only ever seen on highlight reels. Being in that environment, flying business class, it was so cool. I’d only flown business class once before, with one of my ex-girlfriend’s parents!’
As he tells the story of his breakthrough season, Maro Itoje walks down the adjoining hotel corridor. ‘We call him Carlton!’ says Itoje, referring to how Feyi-Waboso entertained his team-mates by doing the famous Carlton Banks dance from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in his first training camp ahead of the Six Nations. ‘What’s your favourite song again? Tom Jones… It’s Not Unusual!’
Ellis Genge soon follows, having just finished a TV interview. ‘I’ve just been asked a question about you,’ says the prop. ‘They asked me what’s interesting about you and I said you’re very inquisitive, hyper-intelligent and been asking me for mortgage advice! I pumped your tyres up, told them you’re a rockstar.’
Feyi-Waboso is one of life’s high achievers. As well as being a musician and an international rugby player, he is also a medical student. It was a twist of academic fate that brought him to English rugby. He was born in Wales, achieving three A* grades at A-level, but was not awarded a place at Cardiff University.
Instead, he enrolled at Exeter and he has not looked back. His father, Andrew, is an ophthalmologist and his Nigerian grandfather, Marcus, was a gynaecologist.
England’s team doctor, Katy Hornby, helps Feyi-Waboso with his studies during international camp and he recently completed his first placement at a surgery in Devon. ‘I always wanted to put myself on track for a good career and I was definitely going to do something with science,’ he says. ‘Medicine ended up being something I enjoyed, with biology and chemistry.
‘Did I see sport as a career? Only recently. I signed my first academy contract when I was in college, 17, but I didn’t really know the stepping stones. I didn’t really grow up with rugby. I watched basketball, football and athletics. Usain Bolt. No one in my family properly played rugby.
As well as being a musician and an international rugby player, he is also a medical student
England’s team doctor, Katy Hornby, helps Feyi-Waboso with his studies during international camp
He admits that he only recently saw sport as a career having not grown up with rugby
‘My brother played a bit but stopped when he broke his arm. I did athletics at the weekends. It was when a new deputy-head came into our school and started a rugby team I thought I’d try it. I turned up with shinpads; didn’t really know what the craic was!
‘A lot of the boys here will name guys they used to play with and I don’t really know who they are. Obviously there’s Jonah Lomu but only over the last three years I’ve started watching rugby properly and getting to know the game a little bit more. I’m learning a lot, especially in this type of environment. I’m in my second year at Exeter now, thanks to some help from the doctor here, so I’m still plodding away.
‘I’ll be doing hospital placements this year. The placements don’t happen on weekends so it won’t clash with matches and we’ll make it work alongside my training schedule. I’ve been at the GP surgery in Newton Abbot and you see some interesting stuff. Before, I thought that would be a bit boring but I could see myself being a GP. I like the idea of plastic surgery, too. People with bad burns, children born with cleft lips… I’m not really sure yet.
‘Everyone has an idea of what they want to do but until you’ve been on the wards you don’t really know what you enjoy.’
The medical career is on hold for now. Feyi-Waboso’s best sporting years lie ahead of him, thriving in England’s space-over-structure attack. There has been a mindset shift, moving away from the kick-chase fest of the World Cup, with players under orders to get back into position quicker and face the opposition so they can be ready to attack.
The approach plays into Feyi-Waboso’s hands. There are few players in the international arena with his explosive athletic abilities, bench-pressing 160kg and generating 66.5 watts per kg on his vertical jump.
‘I feel a lot more comfortable on the pitch now,’ he says. ‘What goes through my head when I get the ball? A lot of it is instinct, just playing how you feel. People learn what you do so you need to adjust, but ultimately I’m still trying to do what got me here in the first place. I just want to help the team win, if I can.’
He has a chance to play himself into contention for next summer’s British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. ‘The Lions would be pretty cool,’ he says, barely fazed by the challenge.
First up are the All Blacks. England narrowly lost both Tests in New Zealand over the summer but Feyi-Waboso scored in both. ‘Marcus Smith just found me in good positions, he could have scored them himself so I appreciate that from him,’ says the modest youngster.
England are preparing for a game against New Zealand, who they narrowly lost to this summer
Feyi-Waboso scored in both Tests, however, and this time England will have home advantage
This time around, England have home advantage. So, will Feyi-Waboso be listening to Einaudi’s melodies on his way into the newly-named Allianz Stadium? ‘I don’t listen to music on matchday,’ he answers.
‘If I listen to music, it feels like I’m not there. I want to be in the zone and let my mind wander. If I want to think about the game, I’ll think about the game. I just try to be present. Murrayfield this year was the most hostile atmosphere I’ve experienced; watching Jamie George come off and everyone booing him. The boos got louder and louder. I didn’t put headphones on then. It’s cool to just take it all in.’
England’s rocket man, no doubt, will continue to take it all in his stride. Lomu had one other piece of advice for the aspiring piano players: ‘Hit the right tone, shine, and be the best you can be.’
You sense Feyi-Waboso would have the great All Black’s approval.
