Mark Hammett

Mark Garry 'Hammer' Hammett (born 13 July 1972) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player.

Having represented Canterbury provincially 76 times, and the Crusaders 81 times and the All Blacks 30 times – including 29 Test matches, Hammett later went on to coach both Canterbury and Crusaders as a forwards/assistant coach.

He is currently on the assistant coach of the in Super Rugby and the Tasman Makos in the Mitre 10 Cup.

Hammett's last match was his 76th for Canterbury.

Hammett first represented New Zealand, while he was a pupil at St Thomas of Canterbury College, when selected for the New Zealand Under 17 team in 1989.

He then captained the Under 19 team in 1991, before making his first appearance for Canterbury in 1992.

Although his one game for Canterbury in 1992 was as a replacement, he played seven games the following season.

As hooker, he played mainly as backup to Matt Sexton in 1993; however, by 1994 they were sharing the role.

By 1995, Hammett played more games than Sexton.

Rugby turned professional in late 1995, and in 1996 the Canterbury Crusaders (now called the Crusaders) franchise was established.

Hammett became a founding member of the side, which struggled in the inaugural Super 12, finishing in last place.

The 1997 season went better for Hammett; the Crusaders finished sixth, and the Canterbury provincial team won the National Provincial Championship (NPC) after beating Counties in the final.

Although Hammett was receiving more and more game time, he still only participated in the NPC final as a replacement.

Hammett started regularly for both Canterbury, and the Crusaders in 1998, with the latter he won his first Super 12 title.

The 1998 Super 12 final was played against the Blues at Eden Park; Hammett said of the match "If we'd been polled in that week, and had to give an honest answer, most of the boys, deep down, would probably have thought that the Blues would beat us."

Despite this, the Crusaders defeated the reigning champions 20–13.

Hammett was rewarded with a New Zealand trial, where he captained his team.

He was subsequently selected for New Zealand A and played against Tonga.

The Crusaders achieved more success in 1999 as they finished the round-robin in fourth place, then won their semi-final, and final (both away from home) to take another championship.

Hammett's achievements with the Crusaders were rewarded by being called into the All Blacks in 1999, at the age of 26.

His first game was against New Zealand 'A', on 11 June in Christchurch, quickly followed by his first Test against France on 26 June.

Hammett eventually played in the 1999 Tri Nations Series, and was selected for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

After winning a third title with the Crusaders in 2000, he was again selected for the All Blacks; getting a start against Tonga, and in that years Tri-Nations.

After returning from All Blacks duty, he played for Canterbury and contributed to a Ranfurly Shield win over Waitako.

Canterbury then reached the NPC final, giving Hammett the opportunity to be part of a Super 12, Ranfurly Shield, and NPC winning team, all in the same year.

Wellington won the NPC final however, and the opportunity was lost.

Hammett was then selected for the end-of-year All Blacks tour, and played against France and Italy (both as a substitute).

Hammett's 2001 Super 12 season was marred by a shoulder injury, and the Crusaders eventually finished tenth.

Due to injury, Hammett only played one game for the All Blacks, as a substitute against Argentina in June.

He missed the entire NPC campaign due to injury: an ankle problem which required surgery and causes him to also miss the 2001 end-of-year All Black tour.

After the 2001 NPC, Crusaders' captain Todd Blackadder left New Zealand to play rugby in Scotland.

During the 2002 Super 12 pre-season, half-back Justin Marshall questioned which of the senior players were going to step into Blackadder's leadership role for the tough matches.

Hammett took the comment "as a slap in the face", as "one player doesn't make a team."

Hammett later said "I took it that way, and I think a lot of the others must have as well, because we all ended up stepping up!"

Subsequently, the Crusaders went through the season unbeaten, including a 96–19 victory over the New South Wales Waratahs.

He again played for the All Blacks in 2002, starting against Australia and South Africa in the Tri-Nations.

The 2002 NPC season was Hammett's last, and although Canterbury were knocked out in their semi-final, they managed to retain the Ranfurly Shield.

The 2003 Super 12 season was Hammett's last.

The team ended the round-robin second on the table, and eventually travelled to Eden Park to face the Blues in the final.

Although the Crusaders lost the final, Hammett scored two tries, becoming one of only three players to score two tries in a Super 12 final.