Walder talks tough for Newcastle
Pundits suggest the Falcons will suffer a Parc des Princes pummelling against French champions Stade Francais on their Heineken Cup quarter-final debut.
But fly-half deputy Dave Walder insists they should not be written off. To compound Newcastle’s degree of difficulty, international talismen Wilkinson and Colin Charvis will, at best, only be used off the replacements’ bench following their prolonged injury struggles.
Stade have already strutted their stuff in Europe this season, thrashing Gloucester and Cardiff Blues home and away while they also have an incentive of a Paris semi-final later this month against Biarritz or Munster if they ground the Falcons.
Newcastle, in contrast to the 2001 Heineken Cup runners up, have entered unchartered territory but Walder remains positive.
In Wilkinson’s guaranteed absence from Falcons’ starting line-up, Walder - one of the Zurich Premiership’s great unheralded talent - will call the shots and he cannot wait for Newcastle’s biggest day of the Tyneside rugby revolution under Rob Andrew.
“If you pick up a newspaper or switch on the television, then the message is that we might as well not even bother turning up for this game,” said Newcastle-born Walder.
“But we don’t believe that and we will give it a good go. The pundits can say what they want.
“You don’t need any more motivation than playing for your home city, watched by 45,000 people in Paris.
“I am not sure whether we like the underdogs’ tag, time will tell, but it is a fact of life that we have got it,” he added.
Stade’s Heineken Cup record - defeats in Paris are virtually unheard of - supports a popular theory that Newcastle could end up doing precious little more than merely making up the numbers.
“If you look at Stade’s squad and their history in the Heineken Cup, then you can see why people have made them favourites,” said Walder.
“But we’ve shown in the past with two England cup final wins at Twickenham, that we pick ourselves up for the big games and that we can beat anyone on our day.
“This is our second venture in the Heineken Cup and we have never been this far before. The semi-final is a big carrot for us, and we have a few donkeys in our team who like carrots!”
Wilkinson’s battle to recover from a second knee injury inside three months means Walder has huge responsibility to boss the game in similar fashion to his masterful orchestration of Newcastle’s pivotal pool victory over Newport’s Gwent Dragons last October.
“I am enjoying my rugby a bit more now, and my kicking has been going well,” he added.
“I had got to the stage where I was feeling a bit sorry for myself, and you haven’t got time to do that in this game.
“I’ve been getting a run in the team due to injuries to people like Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Burke, so even though it might be down to someone else’s misfortune, I just have to make the most of my chances and enjoy the games.”
“People say it every week, but if we get our fair share of ball then we’ve got a back-line which is a match for anyone.
“The ball this year has been much better, and there is no reason why we can’t go into this game expecting to at least compete,” said Walder.
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