Would you make an difference for an PC who could do Thaumaturgical Wards at Evocation speed?
Nope. Wards as evocation still rock because they have duration. With reasonable starting skills you can move a zone and set up a level 3 ward that lasts till nightfall. Have some friends block movement to block movement to give you another segment or two, and you can likely get it to 6ish.
I know if I was running a game, and it came up, I'd give the Merlin, mr. warding, that as a special refinement.
Having a staff as a focus object for warding does work fine. On the other hand, it sounds like you want to reflect spells, which may be developing a repose stunt for counter-spelling instead.