Guildford playing in Heartland

Wairarapa Bush coach Josh Syms was not giving anything away ahead of their opening Heartland Championship match against King Country this weekend.

Former All Black Zac Guildford is set to tie on his boots for the province in their Heartland Championship opener today.

The 27-year-old was cleared by New Zealand Rugby to play yesterday.

Wairarapa head into the fixture after winning two of their four preseason matches, and Syms said he was happy with the progress the team had made.

‘‘We’ve had a pretty good buildup. We would have liked to win more matches in preseason but we’re pretty happy with how the last month has gone.’’

They were bracing for a physical challenge from King Country.

‘‘They are always extremely physical and big. They have big forwards and big inside backs so we will have to be ready for that.’’

Wairarapa had similar goals to the other teams at this stage of the season, Syms said.

‘‘The guys want to be contenders in the Meads Cup, which is probably the goal of most teams in the competition. We probably need to win five or six of our eight matches to do that.’’

The top four teams after eight rounds will contest the Meads Cup, while teams placed 5-8 will play for the Lochore Cup.

‘‘To be Meads Cup champions you have to make the semifinals first, so that’s always the first goal,’’ Syms said.

Horowhenua-Kapiti begin their campaign this weekend against Thames Valley, and coach Chris Wilton also identified reaching the Meads Cup as an early goal.