Mark Garry 'Hammer' Hammett (born 13 July 1972) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player.
[1] 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.
[1] Hammett eventually played in the 1999 Tri Nations Series, and was selected for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
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.
[1] The team ended the round-robin second on the table, and eventually travelled to Eden Park to face the Blues in the final.
[2] During his time at the Crusaders, he helped guide the team to the semi-finals of every single season he was at the franchise, before securing their sixth and seventh title in 2006 and 2008.
[21] In the three years at the helm in Wellington, the Hurricanes failed to progress to the knock-out phase of the competition, only getting as high as seventh on the table; in 2014 Super Rugby season.
[22] On 18 May 2014, Hammett was named Director of Rugby for Wales-based team Cardiff Blues, working alongside Dale McIntosh and Paul John.
On 24 January 2015, Hammett led the Blues to an away victory over Grenoble, to see the side through to the quarter-finals of the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup.
On 25 February 2015, after six months of a three-year contract, Cardiff Blues agreed to release Hammett at his request for personal reasons, to allow him to return home to New Zealand.
[26] It had previously been announced that Hammett would be joining the Tasman Makos in 2016 as their new assistant coach for the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup.
[27] While in June 2016, it was announced that Mark Hammett will remain in Super Rugby, but as an assistant coach at the Highlanders.
[28] In March 2016, Hammett was named as the caretaker coach for the Japanese national team, while Jamie Joseph closes out his contract with the Highlanders.
[29] Hammett led the Brave Blossoms to a 26–22 win over Canada, before losing 2–0 to Scotland during their two-test series.