The former All Black hooker, who only finished his playing career in 2003, was giving his view when discussing his team's prospects in their Super 14 Round Four encounter with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

While the Crusaders are hovering at mid-table, following two defeats split by a win in the first three weeks, the Cheetahs are second on the standings with two victories split by a single loss.

Having seen the Cheetahs 30-26 win over the Waratahs last week - a game in which the Bloemfontein-based outfit blitzed the visitors in the first quarter - Hammett admitted that it will take a huge step up for his side this week.

The absence of seven All Blacks - who are on a World Cup conditioning programme till Round Eight - means the Crusaders have to rely on a large contingent of young guns to pull them through the early stages.

At least they have not suffered any major injuries, which would have put further strain on their resources.

"We've got to be honest, we've been very lucky these three weeks - not in terms of results, but there's certainly been no injuries," Hammett told this website.

But a clean bill of health alone is not going to carry them through this week's challenge.

"It is important that we have them [the players] firing 100 percent at the weekend," he added.

It was the Cheetahs' early blitz and their ability to play an "expansive game" that most impressed the Crusaders' assistant coach.

"They [the Cheetahs] have build and improved from where they were last year," he said of the Cheetahs - who finished 10th in their debut year.

"Rassie [Erasmus, the Cheetahs coach] obviously is a good thinker of the game and he is doing well with that side of it."

But it is not just the Cheetahs that have impressed him.

"They [the Cheetahs] seem to be more mobile, and in terms of South African packs across the board the packs seem to be getting smaller.

"They seem to be going for more agility, more power and more explosive speed ... so its quite exciting times for South African rugby really.

"We're aware of that [the mobility of the Cheetahs] and we've got a challenge to shut them down [on Saturday]," he added.

Hammett, who has the experience of 81 Super rugby matches for the Crusaders between 1996 (he was a foundation member) and 2003, said apart from the opposition the team has some challenges of its own.

"We have a young and inexperienced group and it takes a long time to get up to that physical nature, where the players' bodies can take it [the hard knocks] week after week. As you get older, you can handle that week after week. But we just have to manage the players."

He said that the current crop of players are "close" to reproducing the lofty standards set by the six-time Super rugby champions over the past 11 years.

"Defensively we've been pretty good over the last couple of weeks. While we lost and didn't score any tries [in a 9-3 defeat against the Lions last week], they didn't [score] either.

"We're pretty happy with that [defence], but from an attack point of view it is not much [below the usual standards].

"We feel it is just a bit of detail within our method, and its the understanding on our feet when we get a wee bit tired.

"For us really it is guys that aren't involved in a specific phase of play at any one time that must stay in the game ... in order words they shouldn't become spectators.

"It's not about getting to a phase, it is about thinking about the next one and the one after that, and with youthfulness that takes time."

But he feels that if they pay enough attention to the detail within their game, they could record a very valuable win on the road - against the Cheetahs.

"We just didn't take our chances and we didn't work hard off the ball [against the Lions]. When you start working harder in that area, the awards will come," Hammett said.

By Jan de Koning