A Liberty Stadium clash with the Ospreys awaits on Sunday afternoon as the BT Sport Arms Park region go in search of their first win in four matches. They did battle back to earn a last ditch draw in Connacht last week, but face an unbeaten Ospreys side flying-high in second in the Guinness PRO12.
And former All Black hooker Hammett wants his new side to replicate the levels of performance he saw from his Hurricanes team against Super Rugby rivals Crusaders.
He said: “I’m really looking forward to it. I am learning how different people react to different circumstances. When I was in New Zealand, I went to the Hurricanes from the Crusaders and I didn’t realise how much the Hurricanes hated the side that I had just come from.
“It was incredible to see, you didn’t have to pick the players up at all. They were the one team that really got up for and it was something I didn’t know. We are going into the unknown for me in terms of how my players feel about playing the opposition and how they will react.”
The Ospreys have not been beaten by a fellow Welsh region in 15 league meetings after seeing off the challenge of the Newport Gwent Dragons in round two. But with Wales’ Dove Men Autumn Series just 30 days away, Hammett reckons the Swansea battle will be the perfect stage for his Blues stars to impress Warren Gatland.
He said: “I think one thing is for sure, it doesn’t matter where you are or who you are, if you are an international and trying to claim a stake in that early Test series – these are the games you want to perform in. These matches are critical and I don’t even have to presume that, we know how tough it will be.”
