Rugby: Guildford chasing happiness with Hawkes Bay

Zac Guildford is back with home union Hawkes Bay. Photo / NZME.

For love not money - that's Zac Guildford's new philosophy as he prepares to return to the rugby field in the continuing pursuit of happiness.

Guildford will this week take on Wairarapa Bush in Hawkes Bay's opening Ranfurly Shield defence of the season, once again pulling on the Magpies jersey he first wore as an 18-year-old.

His career has featured plenty of highs and just as many lows since then, the last of which came in May when he quit French club Clermont halfway through a two-year deal. But, now 26, Guildford thinks that exit has helped him finally discover the balance needed in his life.

Needed to perform on the park but, more importantly, needed to find personal fulfilment, a quality for which he has long searched and one that was sorely lacking in France.

Guildford had grown unhappy at Clermont. The rugby, which had begun so well, was no longer enough to keep him satisfied, missing friends, family but also a purpose.

A return to New Zealand so soon after he had burned so many bridges might have seemed unlikely but, given his previous problems with alcohol, it could only be called a mature decision.

"When I first got over there I loved it," Guildford told Radio Sport. "It was sorted of a release, being away from New Zealand and just focus on rugby.

"Then, towards the end of my first year there, I was sort of thinking, 'Is this really what I want to be doing?' I was going to training 8-5 then just sitting at home by myself and not really achieving a lot."

That has all changed since Guildford arrived home, welcomed back with open arms by a Hawkes Bay union eager to assist a favourite son - and keen to reap the rewards on the field.

But what Guildford's doing outside of the lines is of equal encouragement for all parties, staying busy with boxing training for Fight for Life, preparing to study and taking a job as a rugby development officer for the Magpies.

"I just wanted to do a few little things outside of rugby," he said. "The money was good but, at the end of the day, it doesn't make you entirely happy.

"It's good to be able to help [young players] and not just concentrate on myself, which I had been doing since I was 18, really. All I knew was rugby and how I was going to progress. It's exciting to get to training and help others."

Thursday's Shield defence will be Guildford's first run at fullback - he's hoping Israel Dagg makes the All Blacks' World Cup squad so he can stay there - and the first step on a path he hopes will culminate in another shot at Super Rugby.

"I'd love to play Super Rugby again," he said. "But to be honest, I'm actually really happy doing what I am now. The money's not anywhere near the same as I was getting overseas, but I'm a lot happier."