All Blacks wing Zac Guildford admitted he had an alcohol problem on Monday and publicly apologised for breaking an agreement with management by drinking “excessively” after a game last month.
Sport24
At a hastily called press conference, Guildford said “there is a drinking issue” and that he was taking steps to get it under control.
Manager Darren Shand said there had been concerns about Guildford’s drinking through the Tri-Nations tournament leading into the World Cup but he denied this had become a selection issue.
The 21-year-old wing is the only All Black, apart from the injured Kieran Read, who has not been required for either the starting line up or on the bench in the All Blacks two World Cup games so far.
“Not at all,” Shand said when asked if it was a contributing reason to Guildford’s non-appearance, adding that he called the press conference to put an end to rumours about Guildford.
He said Guildford had an agreement with the team management to curb his drinking but this was broken “when he drank excessively” after the All Blacks lost their final Tri-Nations match against Australia in Brisbane last month.
“It was a minor incident. He breached an agreement he had with the coaches. He did not breach team protocols,” Shand said.
A chastened Guildford spoke briefly at the press conference, saying he “had let myself down and let the team down… in making a few bad decisions off-field.
“I’m taking positive steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Guildford, a specialist wing, was considered a surprise selection for the World Cup over the more experienced Hosea Gear and Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Since the tournament began, the All Blacks coaches have used specialist outside-centre Richard Kahui on the wing against Tonga and Japan, and inside-centre Sonny Bill Williams came off the bench to play on the wing against Japan.