Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has described the process surrounding Immanuel Feyi-Waboso's first-half withdrawal from their Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Ulster as "perplexing," raising questions about head injury protocols in the sport.
The incident occurred 10 minutes before half-time when Ulster wing Jacob Stockdale was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Feyi-Waboso. The England international, who had been in scintillating form with four tries in as many matches since recovering from a hamstring injury that kept him out of the Six Nations, passed his head injury assessment (HIA) but was surprisingly not allowed to return to the pitch.
According to Baxter, an independent doctor reviewed the tackle and deemed it required immediate removal, overriding the HIA result. Meanwhile, Stockdale was replaced at half-time after Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said he "picked up a head knock," adding another layer of confusion to the situation.
"You have a refereeing decision with an official judgement of minimal head contact, and most of the contact through the shoulder," Baxter explained. "Our player leaves the field and passes his HIA, but is not allowed to go back on because the independent doctor says the actions on the field make it an immediate removal. The Ulster player doesn't come back on with a damaged face. It doesn't add up, does it?"
The Exeter boss acknowledged he "had to be a little bit careful" with his comments but didn't hold back in expressing his frustration. "Something is wrong in that process," he said, noting that "there's a sphere of long things" that bothered him about the incident.
Despite the controversy, Baxter found a silver lining: "Obviously it creates a bit of frustration for us, but hopefully the positive out of it is Manny passed his HIA, and hopefully that means the process is ongoing now and we can look to try and get him back next week."
Exeter, currently sitting fourth in the Premiership table, will look to bounce back when they host Bath next weekend. Baxter believes the pressure of the semi-final environment may have influenced the decision-making, but for now, the Chiefs must regroup and focus on their domestic campaign without one of their most dangerous attacking weapons.