Tasman fly-half Marty Banks celebrates with Makos fans © Getty Images

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People in New Zealand are questioning the ITM Cup and its relevance. As a response, I just rattle off the first five-eighths: Otere Black, the McKenzie brothers, Matt McGahan, Hayden Parker and Ihaia West are typical of the level of players who are coming through this competition.

ITM Cup rugby is a development path and the average age of these guys is 21-22 and they are where our next All Blacks are going to come from. The jump from club rugby to Super Rugby is too great, the ITM Cup is a fantastic competition for what it is, but you have to identify exactly what it is.

It is a semi-professional competition that is bridging from amateur to fully professional and it is doing a wonderful job for New Zealand rugby. It should be the envy of the rest of the world.

You only have to look at how many new Super Rugby players will come out of the ITM Cup. And it is a tough competition because there are a lot of players who will perform at that level who won't get a Super contract. Unfortunately that is the nature of professional rugby.

It's sad that some of those players are good enough to play Super Rugby but they are up against players who may be sitting on the second year of their contract, without having played well, and that is the downside of professional rugby.

There is no doubt Canterbury have suffered because of the injuries they have had and their proximity to the All Blacks with players like Colin Slade, Ryan Crotty and Tom Taylor, among others.

But for Taranaki and Tasman to be on top of the table is just fantastic for New Zealand rugby. It goes to show that the game is strong and doing well in the provinces, which is what we need.

And the Taranaki and Tasman success is a reflection of smart coaching. The likes of Keiran Keane and Colin Cooper are also good scouts at bringing other players in, which is the key.

There are a lot of players out there who need a pathway to reach Super rugby, and the ITM Cup is providing exactly that.