Guildford to play for East Coast

Former All Black Zac Guildford will return to Heartland rugby with the Nga¯ ti Porou East Coast team that hasn’t won a game since 2013.

Guildford and East Coast head coach Wayne Ensor confirmed to Stuff that he had signed on for their Heartland Championship campaign that starts away to Buller in Westport on August 24.

The 30-year-old revealed earlier this month that he was considering walking way from elite rugby after not being offered a contract by Waikato for their 2019 season.

With no Mitre 10 Cup contract on the table, Guildford said a few Heartland unions had since been in touch after being spurned by Waikato, but East Coast ‘‘appealed the most’’ because of an intrigue to play for New Zealand’s most isolated provincial team, based in Ruatoria.

The former All Blacks wing was at first reluctant when East Coast loose forward Jack Richardson, an old friend from Hawke’s Bay, asked if he would consider helping out as they try and end a 42-game losing streak, a record in the national provincial championship since its inception in 1976. Their last win was against Poverty Bay in Ruatoria on September 28, 2013.

‘‘When he first asked me, I was like ‘hell no’. I wanted to rest and get away from rugby,’’ Guildford told Stuff yesterday, a day after signing loan papers with East Coast, the only iwi-based provincial rugby team in New Zealand.

‘‘But the more I got talking to a few people involved, I got pretty intrigued by trying to help them out. I won’t create miracles but if I can help in some way, then that would be awesome.’’