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Former All Black Zac Guildford joins provincial minnows in Heartland Championship
Former All Blacks wing Zac Guildford has returned to New Zealand provincial rugby after joining Ngati Porou East Coast, who are yet to win a match since 2013, in the Heartland Championship.
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It adds another chapter to the storied – and at times troubled – career of the 30-year-old, who revealed earlier this month that he was contemplating giving up elite rugby entirely after failing to secure a contract with Waikato for the upcoming Mitre 10 Cup campaign.
Guildford had spent his time this year playing club rugby in Hamilton for Fraser Tech, which finished runners-up in the premier competition, losing 22-13 in the final to Hautapu.
He told Stuff that numerous Heartland unions had been in touch about acquiring his services, but East Coast appealed to him due to their isolation from the rest of the country, with the side, which is currently enduring a record 42-match losing streak, playing out of the small North Island township of Ruatoria.
Guildford said he was initially reluctant to move south-east when asked by East Coast loose forward Jack Richardson to play for the country’s only iwi-based outfit, but he was eventually swayed to give it a try.
“When he first asked me, I was like ‘hell no’. I wanted to rest and get away from rugby,” Guildford told Stuff on Tuesday.
“But the more I got talking to a few people involved, I got pretty intrigued by trying to help them out. I am keen to give back to rugby if I am to keep playing. I won’t create miracles but if I can help in some way, then that would be awesome.
“I really don’t like losing and a five-year losing streak is obviously a tough one. I will go there and try my best and do what I can to try and get a couple of victories.”
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It won’t be Guildford’s first dabble in the Heartland Championship, as he played for Wairarapa Bush in 2016 following a failed stint with the Waratahs in Super Rugby earlier that year.
Prior to that, he had amassed 77 caps for Hawke’s Bay in the Mitre 10 Cup, 79 combined appearances for the Hurricanes and Crusaders in Super Rugby, 21 outings for Clermont in the Top 14, and 11 tests for the All Blacks from between 2009 and 2011.
However, a raft of off-field issues, namely his infamous naked drunken assault on bar-goers in Rarotonga eight years ago, have restricted opportunities at the elite level of the game.
Nevertheless, after stints with Waikato and French club Nevers following his foray with Wairarapa Bush, Guildford’s signing with East Coast, which will pay him nothing as a Heartland player, presents an opportunity to give back to the rugby community.
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Logistically, it won’t be easy, as Guildford is still based in Hamilton, where he works as a teacher aide at St Paul’s Collegiate School, so will join a raft of teammates who will travel far and wide just to play and train with the side.
“While it’s not ideal, I get to stay around here in Hamilton with my family. Really, it’s the best of both worlds. Rugby has always been a release from work and the reality of life.”
Guildford will become just the third All Black to play for the East Coast, with legendary fullback George Nepia and Andrew Jefferd playing internationally between 1924-30, and 1980-81, respectively.
East Coast kick-off their 2019 Heartland Championship campaign against Buller at Victoria Square in Westport on August 24.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments