Walder: Give my players a chance
NEWCASTLE boss Dave Walder has been left with mixed feelings of delight and disappointment after Falcons’ first choice hooker Jamie Blamire was called up by England - but then released.
Walder is backing Blamire to become an England match-day squad regular, believing the 25-year-old has really stepped up a gear this season, and the head coach feels there’s another quartet of his players who are deserving of a shot with the national team.
Walder has highlighted wing Adam Radwan, back rower Callum Chick, prop Trevor Davison, and up-and-coming wing Ben Stevenson, as the four deserving of an opportunity with the Red Rose, and is pressing their case in conversations with England head coach Steve Borthwick.
The 44-year-old told The Rugby Paper: “I was very pleased but also disappointed for Jamie Blamire. You know it would have been nice to have Jamie in the England 23, representing the club.
“Jamie has really stepped up to the plate since George McGuigan’s left. It was nice to see George get called up too and the recognition he’s deserved over the years with Falcons. But I’m disappointed not to have any of our other players getting in there with England, and we’re giving a good account of ourselves in the league this year so far. “There’s still a long way to go and there are four players who have really put their hand up, possibility not doing enough for Steve at the moment but hopefully he’s monitoring them and hopefully they will be back with England soon.
“Callum Chick’s been outstanding for us this year, Adam Radwan has been doing his thing, Trevor Davison has performed in the scrum like we saw against Connacht, Trev showed us how important he is to our set-piece, they’re the obvious names for me. And there’s Ben Stephenson, who is on the wider radar and is performing better and better each week.”
Walder is upbeat on his cohort getting opportunities with England, especially with clubs lower in the Premiership such as Bristol getting more call ups, and he’s positive about Borthwick’s approach with clubs in his new role.
He said: “I saw it as disappointing for us but I fully understand, your club form doesn’t always represent whether or not you should get picked, and I don’t know how Steve wants to play the game.
“Hopefully there’ll be more conversations between myself and Steve. He’s been very good so far at being in touch, moving forward we’ll hopefully have further conversations about what he wants from the players and I can tell Steve whether I’m asking my players to do something different because I think that’s better for Newcastle while understanding his position, or in a perfect world I can get a bit of both and give our guys the best chance of getting into that England squad.”
Walder also understands how perspectives can vary, adding: “I’ll stick up for my players who deserve a shot, but I see them every week. I know what I want them to do and watch them with our game plan in mind.
“I’m wary to compare mine with other players, as from the outside you don’t know what they’re being asked to do by their coaches. They may be standing on the wing because that’s what they’re asked to do, not because they’re lazy.
“I don’t know others game plans. From my perspective I would urge Steve to keep looking at my players, they’re all playing well and we’ll see them kick on as we’re hungry to get some good results in our next league games against Bristol and Saracens which is really important.”