On moving to Christchurch his club was Linwood and he played for Canterbury in the NPC and he also represented Crusaders in the Super 12 rugby competition.
He made his All Black debut on 18 June 1999 when he played against Samoa.
In 2000 he played for the UK Barbarians in their 31-41 loss at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff against South Africa and in 2003 as a substitute for the New Zealand Barbarians in their 17-42 loss against England at Twickenham, London.
In total, Maxwell played 36 test for the All Blacks and scored five (5) tries in the process.
He played his last test for the All Blacks against France on 27 November 2004.