Justin Marshall: New Zealand rugby as strong as ever

Asafo Aumua is the latest big thing to come through the NPC. Photo / Getty

The selection of 20-year-old hooker Asafo Aumua to the All Blacks without him having played a Super Rugby game shows the state of our domestic game here is in good health.

So does the quality of the recent finals of the Mitre 10 Cup. The intensity and skill level shown by Wellington in winning the Championship and then Canterbury in winning the Premiership was such that they were worthy winners in two excellent matches.

Bay of Plenty and Tasman played their parts too and should be proud of their efforts. There was some quality rugby and excellent tries scored all season and in the case of Aumua, a brilliant emerging talent, it shows our age grade system is working pretty well too. Credit too must be given to those players in the Heartland competition.

For the All Black selectors to pick a player who hasn't been involved in Super Rugby yet surely proves our domestic game is the best in the world.

And how good is the Ranfurly Shield? I know Canterbury had it for most of the season, but they had to work hard to hold on to it. There were staunch challenges - I'm thinking Otago in particular - and then Taranaki got their famous success at AMI Stadium in an epic game.

It goes to show that when you have that format included in the competition it can add so much value to a team's season. Taranaki lost their semifinal to Tasman but they locked the Shield away and their players and supporters have that to look forward to next season.

It's the end of rugby for the year here in New Zealand but the All Blacks and NZ Maori are on their respective tours and arrive in the Northern Hemisphere for the start or middle of their opponents' seasons.

The All Blacks next weekend play a Barbarians team coach by a New Zealander in Robbie Deans who will know plenty about All Black rugby. It should be an entertaining game at Twickenham - it always is - and it will be interesting to see whether the All Blacks experiment in this one.

It isn't a test match but it will be a difficult game.

As a former All Black lucky enough to have a relatively long career, I am often asked about the highlights and one of them was the opportunity to captain the Baabaas against the All Blacks, something Andy Ellis will get the chance to do next weekend.

It was an incredible feeling to stand there and listen to the New Zealand anthem and face the haka.

It was a revelation to see first-hand what it's like to have that black jersey coming at you.

The skill, speed, intensity and ferocity of the players on the other side - men whom I had played alongside - was magnificent and hard to describe.

I still played two or three years for All Blacks after that, but it gave me the impression I would never want to play for any other country. It made me grateful to be born in New Zealand and be able to represent the All Blacks. I'm sure those New Zealand players facing the black jersey this weekend will get that feeling too.