World of Boxing and Rugby Union
Scrum-half
5. Justin Marshall
It would be a tragedy if the enduring memory of Justin Marshall's role in New Zealand rugby over more than a decade was to be some churlish media comments passed by the man during 2005 and in his biography published that year. Marshall appeared to be unforgiving of anyone who had crossed him in his playing days, be it Colin Meads or the national selectors headed by Graham Henry for leaving him out of the 2004 end of season tour.
But perhaps all of this was simply a reflection of an incredibly intense, competitive and focused nature which helped make Marshall the special player he was. For if he was not everyone's ideal of a halfback Marshall was an uncommonly fine and committed player who for a decade gave the All Blacks exemplary service.
Marshall was clearly destined for major honours when, after making the New Zealand under 19s in 1992. Marshall's promise was quickly detected at national levels with selection in the 1993-94 New Zealand Colts, the Divisional side for a Pacific Islands tour and in the New Zealand Development squad which toured Argentina in 1994.
But it was his transfer in 1995 to Canterbury which was the main boost of his early career. After playing in Canterbury's shield defences that season he was blooded on the All Blacks tour of France and Italy.
At first the understudy to Stu Forster, he was promoted to the test XV for the second international against France where the All Blacks produced a stunning performance to reverse the first test defeat. From 1996, apart from an achilles tendon problem in 1998 and a late injury forcing him out of the 2001 end of season tour of Scotland, Ireland and Argentina, he remained pretty much an automatic test choice. Not that he was everyone's favourite. His passing was often criticised and from 1999 he faced strong competition from Byron Kelleher. He was omitted from the World Cup semifinal against France in 1999 for Kelleher and this was something which brought him at odds with Hart. Ironically, Hart in 1997 had made him the stand-in captain for the internationals against England, Wales and Ireland when his chronic knee injury finally ruled out Sean Fitzpatrick. That Marshall had considerable leadership ability was undoubted. Those qualities were to be in evidence again when in the 2003 World Cup quarter final Marshall had been the inspiring factor when unexpectedly the All Blacks had trouble beating Wales.
As an all around player Marshall had rare attributes and his size, determination and toughness meant he was an ideal loose forward adjunct. And despite his supposed passing limitations he formed happy inside back pairings not only with his close friend, Andrew Mehrtens, but with fly-halfs such as Tony Brown and Carlos Spencer. Though he was heading off to Britain midway through the 2005 season, Marshall was chosen for the test series against the British and Irish Lions, sharing the halfback duties with Kelleher. That took his tally of test appearances to 81, second only to Fitzpatrick's 92, and in them he scored a total of 24 tries. Overall he played 88 times for the All Blacks. He was also a prolific tryscorer for both Canterbury and the Crusaders and though he usually had sharp shooters like Mehrtens, Aaron Mauger and Dan Carter outside him had a knack for dropping goals. Injuries and All Black commitments, especially to the 1999 and 2003 World Cups, meant Marshall only played 61 games for Canterbury but in 2005, despite missing virtually all the 1998 season, he became the first Crusader to exceed more than 100 Super 12 games. In all, he played 284 first class games, scored 97 tries and drop kicked three goals.