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Zac prepares for new Crusade

New Crusaders wing, Zac Guildford, is already engaged in a war of text messages with his Hawke's Bay teammates who are aligned to the Highlanders for the upcoming Super 14 rugby competition.

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Sportal.co.nz

New Crusaders wing, Zac Guildford, is already engaged in a war of text messages with his Hawke's Bay teammates who are aligned to the Highlanders for the upcoming Super 14 rugby competition.

The two South Island franchises clash in the first round at AMI Stadium, Christchurch, on Saturday night and All Blacks wing Guildford, who played for the Hurricanes last year, has contacted his Bay mate, fullback Israel Dagg, who has stayed with the Highlanders after considering a switch to the Crusaders.

"I texted him this morning and asked him to let me know if he was in the team so I could line him up for one of those spot tackles," Guildford said after the Crusaders training run on Tuesday.

Guildford, the youngest in the Crusaders squad - he turned 21 on Monday - said he had quickly been accepted into the Crusaders family on arrival from Hawke's Bay.

"It was like my first day at school coming into the set up, but all the boys have been welcoming and it's been pretty easy apart from the first day or two when you feel a bit nervous.

"Now it's just like any other team, but this team is pretty special with the culture they have created and the mana they command."

Guildford said unlike other teams he had played for the Crusaders coaching was all in-house.

"There's no outsiders coming in and telling us what to do - here it's all based within the team and the management and that forces you to create your own culture."

Guildford said the pre-season preparation had been arduous but that was to be expected.

"It's meant to be hard as that basically sets you up for the season. But waking up on Monday morning knowing we're heading into work week and building into a game is really exciting especially as our first one is against the Highlanders and a few of my old mates."

All Blacks loose forward Kieran Read, who will captain the Crusaders in the absence of Richie McCaw for the opening rounds, said the rest after the All Blacks end-of-season northern hemisphere tour, had done the body a power of good.

"It's nice to be running around without too many niggles although I'm sure that will change over the weeks. The coaches gave me time away from the group so it's been good to prepare yourself individually and then slowly work up with the boys. I had a good hit-out [about 50 minutes against the Blues] last week and the body feels good."

Read said that the opening round was always a little harder without having seen the opposition in action.

"You haven't got the analysis tools that you have later on, but you have just got to be prepared. The team that's best prepared themselves is going to win rather than the team that knows the opposition the best."

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