Justin Marshall: Rugby really was the winner as All Blacks put on a show

Sonny Bill Williams was great on attack and solid on defence. Photo / Getty Images

Before a ball had even been kicked yesterday, rugby had already got a result out of it and the All Blacks had already achieved what they wanted to by bringing the game to Chicago.

The mood in the city has been very good. Making your way around Chicago , it's obvious the game has been well advertised. It's been in the bars and the restaurants and people are aware the All Blacks are in town.

Don't get me wrong - there well be a fair percentage of people who don't know anything about rugby and wouldn't be interested. It is the third-largest city in America and there's a hell of a lot of people. But the All Blacks have been very well received.

The went to the Blackhawks - one of the best teams in ice hockey - and they had Richie McCaw out there hitting a puck. It's not as if they've just snuck into town and not been recognised - they've been promoted and looked after. Which I think is a big part of why it's been such a successful week.

In terms of what the game had to offer, it was never about a full-on contest - when the 18th-ranked team are playing the No1 team there's going to be a bit of a gap to bridge in terms of a result. I think it was more about globalising the sport.

The fact of the matter is the All Blacks are a good couple of levels above the USA, who will learn a lot from the game.

But I just think it was a promotion of the game more than anything. The fact the stadium got sold out was a big part of it. People genuinely wanted to see what the All Blacks were all about. They wanted to experience rugby first hand.

In terms of what the All Blacks got out of the game, it was a good opportunity for them to take their brand to the USA but also a great chance for some players who have probably only been given 10 or 15 minutes of game time to actually run out in the jersey and get a chance to have a decent hit-out for the All Blacks.

They got the opportunity to work on some combinations that hadn't been there before and reintroduce the likes of Sonny Bill. I thought he was very good in everything he did.

We probably didn't see a lot of his trademark offloading game but look how prominent he was - which shows he's learned from his first experience in rugby and he has other areas of his game which are of the highest quality.

He was also competent on defence. He offers the All Blacks another attacking weapon in the backline - as if they don't have enough.

TJ Peranara got a start and I thought he was really good. He cleared the ball well, got to the breakdowns quickly and cleared the ball efficiently.

Dan Carter got 30 minutes which was good for him. He admitted to having a few butterflies in the stomach, which is great.

When you've got 32-year-old All Blacks who's played more than 100 test feeling that way about pulling on the black jersey, it's very pleasing to hear. That means he's more than motivated to continue to play for the All Blacks. I think it was just a great success all-round, really.