Hammett to end with Highlanders

Blues show their culture has improved

Highlanders' assistant coach Mark Hammett will sever his ties with the franchise at the end of Super Rugby Aotearoa.

Hammett, who was speaking as the Highlanders build-up to playing the Blues in Auckland at the weekend, said he had discussions with the management in November 2019 and had made the decision to move on.

Coaching was a transient lifestyle and he felt the time to end was right.

Dunedin had been the best city to fit into during his coaching career. He said he enjoyed his time with the Highlanders.

He had no immediate plans for his coaching future.

Looking to Saturday, he said the Blues, who lead the competition, were an 80-minute team who had strong finishers with firepower across the field.

They had continued the momentum in Super Rugby Aotearoa they showed in the Super Rugby series. That was a continuation of the improvement they had shown during the 2019 campaign. In 2020 they had a much better record on the road which Hammett said was a good sign of their culture.

Hammett said while they had a bye after the opening game they had reflected on their first-up performance and were happy with several aspects of their one-point win. At the same time they were also aware there were areas in which they had to improve.

They had also been working with referees to ensure their techniques were top of the changed emphasis with laws, especially at the breakdown.

While there was some concern with the number of penalties in games, Hammett wasn't worried. There had also been a reduction in the scrums. That was an area, which with all its resets, had proved a 'massive time killer' in the game.

"If I was to have the option of more scrums or more penalties, then penalties are the preference," he said.

There had also been a reduction in turnovers resulting from failures in skill sets. Turnovers were more often from penalties under the changed emphasis of the laws.

Hammett felt one of the advantages in Super Rugby Aotearoa was that as a one-nation competition they were dealing with fewer referees that would allow a faster pick-up of the refereeing emphasis.

He also supported the greater emphasis on offside rulings, something which all teams in the competition still had some way to go before being on top of the requirement.

Hammett said it was a development with which he agreed.

"Once again, when you've been playing a certain style for a long, long time they are ingrained habits, so we have to change those. That doesn't happen overnight," he said.