Halfback TJ Perenara said the grunting of the tight five in the changing room suggested body height had been fingered for a horror half-hour that saw the Sharks dismantle their opposites in alarming fashion on numerous occasions.
Hammett suggested adjusting to the South African officials' interpretations at scrum time, and too big a gap at the bind and engagement, were to blame for the dire start.
"They were managing to hold us on the bind and then follow it through. When we eventually managed to close the gap we started to go all right," he said. "One of the frustrating things was in those last 20 minutes we actually started dominating their scrum, but didn't get the reward they did."
Jannie du Plessis and Tendai Mtawarira will choke on their biltong if they read the words "Hurricanes" and "dominating" in the same sentence today.
But Hammett's right that the Hurricanes did improve, notably so when big loosehead prop John Schwalger and hooker Motu Matu'u entered the fray.
