Christchurch: New Zealand wing Zac Guildford has apologised for his "excessive drinking" and vowed yesterday to take full advantage of his opportunity after escaping a playing ban.
The 22-year-old had already held discussions with All Blacks coaches after several alcohol-related incidents, but was involved in another in Brisbane last month in the wake of New Zealand's Tri-Nations defeat by Australia.
"After the game Zac obviously had had a disappointing match and felt a lot of pressure. He did drink excessively at the team hotel and basically breached the agreement with the coaches," All Blacks manager Darren Shand told reporters.
"It's pretty obvious what's moderate and what's excessive and that's why we have dealt with it the way we have.
"He's let himself down, he's let his team mates down. Zac's now got a self-improvement programme he has to work on."
Disciplinary reasons
Guildford has not featured in the All Blacks' first two games of the rugby World Cup but Shand said he had not been left out for disciplinary reasons.
"Personally, I feel I let myself down and the team down," Guildford said. "Obviously a poor performance on the field in a week that I felt the pressure at times led to me making a few bad decisions off the field following that game."
