Rugby: Apology not required from Guildford: he's on fire

There's no doubt about it ... Hawke's Bay's Crusaders rugby winger Zac Guildford has high expectations of himself in his quest to regain an All Blacks berth.
"An awesome result. But I'm down on myself for not scoring a try and apologies to the fans for that," said Guildford after the Crusaders 25-19 Super Rugby win against the Chiefs in front of 14,000 spectators at Napier's McLean Park on Saturday night.
"It wasn't through lack of trying though," said Guildford as he reflected on a near intercept try from a Chiefs pass to centre Richard Kahui.
"I pictured it," said four-test All Black Guildford who missed selection for last year's Tri Nations Series and end-of-year tour of the United Kingdon.
Nobody would demand an apology from Guildford, 22, after his performance against the Chiefs. He hunted work all night, particularly when the Crusaders opted for kick and chase moves involving in-form All Blacks first five-eighth Dan Carter and Guildford in the first spell.
"We went away from that approach in the second half when our big boys started to gain the upper hand. I was stoked in the manner our forwards won us the game," said Guildford, who was still signing autographs 32 minutes after the final whistle.
The Crusaders scrum was particularly impressive. It received a huge boost when All Blacks lock Brad Thorn took the field as a second half replacement.
Although a member of the Chiefs scrum which was outgunned, Magpies and All Black hooker Hika Elliot can be proud of the boxes he ticked off elsewhere including the lineouts where he found his target on all 12 of his throws.
"I was happy with the way I went. We didn't get the result we wanted and, while we put the Crusaders under pressure, we couldn't capitalise on it," said Elliot.
"They came out in the first 10 minutes of the second half and scored points which we couldn't peg back."
Like Guildford, Elliot was full of praise for the crowd.
"It was huge and I could tell they were in two minds about who to support.
"Hopefully, we might be able to have one of our home games here in the future," said Elliot, who was subbed with 13 minutes remaining.
Fellow Chiefs and Magpies frontrower Sona Taumalolo played the entire match after initially being subbed in the 56th minute but being forced to take the field before he sat down when it was discovered his propping partner Ben Afeaki had a rib injury. He was unlucky not to score a late try and always made the most of his limited opportunities on the charge.
Former Magpies first five-eighth Matt Berquist got the final four minutes as a sub for Crusaders and All Black first five-eighth Dan Carter.
This wasn't surprising as Carter was back to his best after recent injury spells and repeatedly rattled the Chiefs defence with the ball in hand or with his tactical kicks.
Hawke's Bay-born Chiefs lock Romana Graham was subbed with 17 minutes remaining. He impressed at lineout time and with his mobility.
Chiefs openside flanker Sam Cane, who will play at the Under-20 World Cup in Italy next month, can be proud of his contribution to the Chiefs cause. His Crusaders opposite and All Black captain, Richie McCaw, agreed Cane did well.
McCaw was thrilled with his troops' performance considering it was their first week back from South Africa and numerous first stringers were on the injured list.
"It was always going to be a case of doing the simple things right to get across the advantage line. Apply pressure and you will get penalties.
"Now we've got to make the most of the eight-day turnaround as we prepare for the Reds. Every week from now on is huge," added McCaw.
Chiefs captain and fullback Mils Muliaina, who again appeared well off his best, agreed the conceding of soft penalties and poor set piece play let his side down.
"Against a side as good as the Crusaders you have to hold on to your possession and we didn't do that," he added.