England will support Immanuel Feyi-Waboso before a potential first match against his native Wales on Saturday, said head coach Steve Borthwick.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland said some comments “weren’t that positive about him” from “a few Welsh coaches”.

When asked about Feyi-Waboso, Borthwick said: “We will give all the players all the support they need.”

He added: “Regarding Manny, three things: he trains really hard, he enjoys being with the players and in the remaining time he is studying for his medicine degree. He is pretty busy.

“My experience right now is that he has his head focused on where it needs to be.”

The Cardiff-born winger represented Wales at age-grade level but is able to represent England because of family heritage and came on as late replacement in their opening Six Nations victory over Italy.

He moved from Cardiff to Wasps in 2022 before switching to Exeter Chiefs later that year after Wasps’ demise.

Feyi-Waboso is also studying for a medical degree at Exeter University, which may have played a role in his decision to play for England.

“Manny’s a pretty quiet lad but it looks like not many things affect him. He gets on with it and gets on with his work as good as anyone I’ve seen,” fly-half George Ford said.

“He’s an exciting player – so physical and fast. He’s a game-breaker, so hopefully we can get the ball in his hands a bit more.”

Both fly-half Owen Farrell and flanker Tom Curry faced intense online criticism during the World Cup, which Borthwick wants to learn from to better protect his players.

The former England captain received criticism for his tackle technique following a ban in the build-up to the World Cup, with Curry getting abuse for reporting an alleged on-pitch racial slur in their semi-final defeat by South Africa.

“We are really cognizant of that and rightly so given the World Cup experience,” Borthwick added.

“There is a heightened awareness now of those external noises and external factors.”