Please note: The Junior All Blacks are not playing any matches in the 2008 season.

The Junior All Blacks is New Zealand's newest national team as a result of a review of the New Zealand Rugby Union's High Performance structure.

Unlike the New Zealand Under 23 Junior sides of previous years, the Junior All Blacks are not an age grade side. It is in fact the second national team behind the All Blacks. Since a New Zealand Junior side was sent to Japan in 1958, they have played against a host of international sides including the British & Irish Lions, Australia, England, South Africa, Fiji and Tonga.

Several players who played in New Zealand Juniors sides also ended up playing for the All Blacks. Among them were Colin Meads, Kel Tremain, Graham Mourie, Ian Kirkpatrick and Grant Fox.

Junior All Blacks co-coach Colin Cooper played for the 1982 side on their Internal Tour - the team won all four matches.

For the Junior All Blacks news and team information click here.

New Zealand Under 20 is New Zealand's newest national team, to be selected for the first time in 2008. It provides development opportunities and acts as a testing ground for New Zealand's young, talented players.

The New Zealand Under 20 team was established in 2007 following the International Rugby Board's restructuring of international age-grade rugby and replaces the New Zealand Under 21 and Under 19 sides.

New Zealand Under 21 (formerly known as the Colts) was first selected in 1955 and played annually until 2007.

New Zealand Under 19 was selected for the first time in 1990. The new New Zealand Under 20 side is scheduled to participate in the IRB Junior World Championship tournament.

New Zealand's age-grade sides enjoyed great success on the world stage. New Zealand Under 21 won world titles in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004 while the New Zealand Under 19 team won the last ever IRB Under 19 World Championship title in early 2007, in addition to titles in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2004.

For the U20 news and team information click here.

The New Zealand Maori has a proud history both on and off the rugby field. The team has lost only four of its 26 games played between 1994 and 2004, including beating England, Argentina, Scotland, Fiji. The Maori continued their winning form in 2004 beating England in extra time in the final of the Churchill Cup in Canada. In 2005, the New Zealand Maori team beat the touring British & Irish Lions 19-13. Maori rugby traces its origins back to the inaugural world tour that was conducted in 1888-89 by a team that became known as the New Zealand Natives. The team played an incredible 107 games across Britain, Australia and New Zealand during a journey that lasted 14 months. Since first given official status in 1910, the New Zealand Maori has produced some of world rugby's most outstanding athletes, including fullback George Nepia who played 46 games for the All Blacks from 1924-1930, halfback Sid Going who played 86 matches for his country and former All Black captain and former NZRU President Tane Norton, who represented New Zealand in 61 games, including 27 Tests.

For the New Zealand Maori news and team information click here.

The Black Ferns became an official NZRU national side in 1992 after paying their own way to the 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup in Wales. Their Women's Rugby World Cup titles in 1998, 2002 and again in 2006 underline New Zealand's dominance in international women's rugby and reflect the burgeoning provincial, club and school scene. In addition to three world titles, the Black Ferns also won the 2004 Churchill Cup tournament in Edmonton by beating England in the final. They followed that up with a win over Canada in the final of the 2005 Canada Cup. In 2007, the Black Ferns beat Australia's Wallaroos 2-0 in a two-match Test series to retain the Laurie O'Reilly Memorial Trophy.

For Black Ferns news and information click here.

New Zealand Sevens was born in 1983, when the first full international side was sent to the famous Hong Kong tournament. New Zealand won their first Hong Kong title in 1986 and went on to win the inaugural IRB World Sevens Series in 2000 and in each of the next five years. In addition, the New Zealand Sevens side won gold medals at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games. In 2005, the team also won its sixth IRB Sevens title in a row and won a seventh title in 2007.

For Sevens news and information click here.

The New Zealand Heartland XV, formerly known as the New Zealand Divisional XV, was established in 1988 to expose players from Divisions Two and Three in the Air New Zealand NPC to rugby at a higher level. In 2006, AA Rewards Heartland Championship replaced the former Air New Zealand NPC Divisions Two and Three, and the competition has given more players the chance to push for national honours. The first New Zealand Heartland XV side toured the Pacific Islands and they played six games (which they won), including matches against Tonga and Fiji. The team has been the launching pad of many All Blacks' careers including Carlos Spencer and Justin Marshall. Other players who made appearances for the New Zealand Heartland XV early in their careers include Jeff Wilson, Todd Blackadder, Norm Hewitt Simon Culhane and Matthew Cooper.

For Heartland XV news and information click here.

Many All Blacks made their mark in the New Zealand Schools side, most notably Doug Howlett, Keven Mealamu, Carl Hayman and Andrew Hore, all of whom played in the 1996 side that beat Australia 31-22. Hore was the captain back then. And over the years, many more future All Blacks impressed at New Zealand Schools level - Aaron Mauger, Malili Muliaina and Jerry Collins were just three who made the 1998 squad. In recent years, Joe Rokocoko (2000-2002), Sam Tuitupou (2000), Ben Atiga (2000-2002), Jamie Mackintosh (2002-2003) and Liam Messam (2001-2002) came to the fore. Mackintosh went on to captain the New Zealand Under 19 side to World Cup victory in South Africa in 2004 while Messam led the New Zealand Sevens team to its fifth IRB World Series title in the same year. New Zealand Schools has lost only one of their last 24 games, against France Under 19 in Paris in 2002.

For Schools news and information click here.