Guildford gets advice from Kirwan

LAWRENCE SMITH

ASK JK: New All Black Zac Guilford will seek advice from John Kirwan.

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Zac Guilford will call on the advice of legendary wing John Kirwan when he realises his boy-hood dream at Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

The Hawke's Bay wing revealed yesterday that Kirwan had sounded him out in Tokyo last week and told him not to put himself under too much pressure.

"He was a really nice guy. He just said in his first couple of years he didn't play his best rugby in the black jersey, because he was a bit overawed," Guildford said after being named on the left wing to play Wales.

"He just said play your natural game, so that's the one bit of advice I took from him."

At 20-years old, Guildford was compared to Kirwan, a test debutante at 18 back in 1984, by All Blacks coach Graham Henry before the squad left New Zealand.

He is too young to have witnessed any of Kirwan's 63-test career or his 35 tries, but Guildford has an impressive list of idols to call on.

"I wasn't really born when he was running around," he said. "Jonah [Lomu], Cully [Christian Cullen], Jeff Wilson, Tana [Umaga], those sorts of guys. They were really good players and could do freakish things."

The Crusaders-bound flyer is capable of similar feats and is full of confidence after a glittering season with Hawke's Bay in the NPC where he scored 13 tries this season.

He plans to cast his mind back to Napier's McLean Park during Saturday's test, but will also be thinking of his late father Rob, who tragically died of a heart attack last year as he watched his son play for the New Zealand under 20s.

"My dad wanted me to be an All Black. I was down the first month or two [after he passed], but then I just used it as motivation," he said.

"I talked about it with him quite a lot. He wasn't an All Black and I know his dream was for me to be an All Black since I first laced up my boots for Greytown when I was five years old."

That shared dream will be fulfilled in two days time.

- © Fairfax NZ News