Zac Guildford confident he can handle big task

LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff.co.nz

YOUNG STAR: Hawke's Bay wing Zac Guildford, selected over Cory Jane, will get his second All Blacks start against England at Twickenham.

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Zac Guildford will have the perfect opportunity to test-drive his new tackling technique against giant England wing Matt Banahan at Twickenham tomorrow.

The Hawke's Bay wing has spent the two weeks since his impressive debut against Wales working on driving into his tackles after earning a low mark from his coaches in Cardiff.

"They said most of what I did last time was pretty good, but they pointed out one part of the game that I needed to improve on and that was the tackle," Guildford said yesterday.

"They just said to keep moving forward and don't plant my legs. They gave me six out of 10 for the tackle, so that's something I need to keep working on."

The 20-year-old's defence will have to be solid against his unusually big and heavily-tattooed opponent.

"Banahan's about 6ft 7in and he loves the contact, so it'll be different," Guildford said.

"Last time I marked [Leigh] Halfpenny, and he's about half the size of [Banahan]. I haven't seen much of him, but he obviously goes quite well."

The 2.01m tall 22-year-old has been touted as England's version of former All Black Jonah Lomu and scored the last-minute match-winning try for England against Argentina last week.

But Guildford, who says he "goes with the flow" rather than getting too caught up in pre-match hype, believes being so big isn't always an advantage on the wing.

"Big guys don't like turning around, so I guess that's one weakness they have, but he also has his strength and size, so it'll be interesting."

Guildford is on the unfamiliar right wing, but said he was relaxed about whether he had 11 or 14 on his back.

"I don't really mind. I've played most of my rugby on the left wing, but the right is pretty much the same role on the other side of the field.

"My natural foot is my right, so I do things better on that side anyway, so I can't see it is a big issue.

"Siti [Sivivatu] said he would play right, but I said nah, nah, you've had that left wing for 40-something games, so I better not steal it off you."

Guildford was expecting a few high kicks from England first-five Jonny Wilkinson, but was confident he could handle whatever the super boot threw his way.

- © Fairfax NZ News