Shaun Edwards praises David Walder
London Wasps head coach Shaun Edwards has praised David Walder after the fly-half's performance against Leicester.
Walder hit a number of penalty and conversion kicks during the match against the champions as the Wasps turned around a half-time deficit of 18-30. The side did not allow Leicester to score a single point
in the second half to secure a 37-30 victory.
Edwards has praised Walder for being superb under pressure. Without his kicking, the Wasps would not have moved up to eighth in the table and would have stayed near the bottom.
Walder displayed a number of attributes during the match with Leicester that have earned him a lot of credit. It's important he can be consistent if the team is going to have a good season.
Credit where credit is due
Walder's accuracy with the boot was fantastic against Leicester. He managed to put seven kicks between the posts during the match, four of which came after the break.
He played a big role in the middle of the field. Wasps was doing a lot of running during the second-half and Walder was key in movement off of the ball. This stretched Leicester's defence and forced mistakes
that led to penalty chances.
His fitness was superb and this was shown late on in the game. Tired players can often kick wide of the posts through match fatigue. However, Walder looked quite fresh after the 80 minutes were up.
Edwards said: "We said at the break that we can go out there and win that game.
With our fly-half David Walder on that form we made sure we did not go out there and try big plays in the second half but play sensibly.
I told the boys to be calm and not chase things too much but get our defence solid and build our way back."
Maintain momentum
Walder has the momentum and he must keep his good performances up if the Wasps are going to slowly climb the table. The threat of his boot is now clear and sides will react
to limit the chances he has to score.
Walder hasn't always been in the spotlight and the club has to make sure the player is not affected by pressure. This means the side has to work doubly hard in future matches
to make sure the job of the fly-half is an easy one.
Director Tony Hanks added: "Few people outside our camp would have given us
much of a prayer of winning when we went off at half time. But we had bags of self belief, and the forwards fronted up in the second half.
It was so important for us to start our home programme with a win, and while we did make things tough for ourselves, I'm very proud of the way the players fronted up."
Betting advice
Walder has not always enjoyed the kicking role at Wasps but his quality in the job is now clear for all to see. Back Walder over the next two or three games to be the highest
points scorer in those games.
There is also a very good chance that he could end up as the top scorer at the club by the end of the season. If he continues to kick big points the club won't take him
away from his role.
The Wasps have improved from the first two games of the season and the club looks a very good bet to break the top four by the end of the year. Leicester has lost two out
of the first three games, which means you should maybe start backing Bath or Northampton to lift the Premiership crown this season.
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