Hammett laments Highlanders’ inconsistency

Highlanders assistant coach Mark Hammett feels his side has been unable to finish games well in the opening rounds of Super Rugby.

The Dunedin side has suffered defeat in three out of their first four matches this season after defeats to the Hurricanes, Chiefs and the Crusaders which they lost in the dying minutes of the clash.

Hammett admitted the Highlanders know where they are going wrong.

"That first four-weeks was a block that obviously we're not happy with," Hammett told Stuff.co.nz. 

"But what came out of it was that all the games, right through the first 50-60 minutes, were really positive. But the back 20 or 30 minutes, the skill execution and tactically how we were playing, those sorts of things really let us down."

But the former Crusaders hooker believes they are learning valuable lessons and are not out of the competition yet.

"We're certainly not down in the mouth … It's not fun losing games that you should win.

"But if we can really take the lessons out of those and really sharpen up, we could be talking in another three or four weeks and it could be quite a different story."