I HAD TO BE ANTI-SOCIAL

Feyi-waboso deleted his account because trolls targeted him over decision to snub Wales for England

ENGLAND youngster Immanuel Feyi-waboso says he deleted his social media account to block out the noise over his decision to play for the Red Rose.

The Cardiff-born wing was targeted by trolls when he chose to represent England over the country of his birth.

The 21-year-old came off the bench to make his international debut against Italy in Rome (in action, bottom) but was an unused replacement in last Saturday’s 16-14 victory over Wales.

As he prepared for both games the

Exeter man – who was playing for

Taunton Titans in National 1 last season – disabled his online accounts to keep the critics at arm’s length.

He said: “Right now, I delete Instagram throughout the week. You hear people talking about external noise but I didn’t really hear any of it.

“It started to creep in a little bit and initially I started to read comments and stuff.

“Speaking to a lot of the boys here, it’s surprising what they do to block out a lot of rugby noise. It’s good advice.

“I blocked out a lot of it so it wasn’t too bad. 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. Whatever decision I made, they were happy.”

Feyi-waboso’s half-english, half-nigerian father Andrew is an ophthalmologist and the youngster is following in his footsteps by studying medicine at Exeter University.

He is juggling bookwork with training and has enlisted the team doctor, Katy Hornby, to help him prepare for a looming exam three days after the Six Nations.

He added: “I just enjoyed learning. If I wasn’t playing rugby, my ideal situation would be just to stay in Uni, keep learning, keep going.

“But obviously, I feel like a doctor is a career of constant learning.

“You don’t really stop. You do five years in Uni, then you have two foundation years, then specialise … it’s not boring.

“Neither is rugby. It’s very interesting. “It’s constantly learning, seeing new players, new systems and stuff like that. So it’s pretty cool.

“My driving force, I feel like it’s something that’s now habitual. It’s just something that I really want to do: become a doctor.” England could throw Manu Tuilagi (circled) straight in against Scotland next Saturday after his return from a groin injury.

He has not played since

December – but

England would have no qualms about him playing at

Murrayfield.

Defence coach

Felix Jones said:

“Manu’s probably a guy who has experienced enough

Test rugby. He’s done it a number of times when he’s come back from injury with low levels of game time but still been able to perform at a very high level.”

Leicester lock George Martin and Sale hooker Luke Cowan-dickie are also back in the mix for England.