Highlanders wary of Stormers' attacking threat

The Cape side went down 24-57 to the Crusaders last weekend, but Hammett said his side are not paying too much attention to that clash.

"They [Stormers] turned some ball over where they normally wouldn't particularly inside the Crusaders' 22m so it probably could have been a different sort of game," Hammett told allblacks.com. "They got a couple of intercept tries, the Crusaders, so we're not looking so much at that game but more at what they've done in the past.

"They've been very strong, they're a dominant, hard-carrying team and they are a team that maybe slightly different from some of the African teams as they really try and attack hard out of their 22 at times."

The match against the Stormers will be the first of three against South African opposition for the Highlanders. After this weekend's clash, the Highlanders travel to South Africa to take on the Cheetahs and the Bulls.

It will be interesting to see if the Dunedin-based will tweak their game for the South African sides.

"We have plans around that, we like to run a lot so we've got to do it at the right places at the right time," Hammett said.

Meanwhile, Elliot Dixon could return to action against the Stormers this weekend.

The loose forward was in hospital with a leg infection, with Dillon Hunt taking his chance and was proving to be one of the success stories of the year for the side.

"He's [Hunt] been playing outstandingly well and he just improves week on week," said Hammett. "He was thrust into a pretty hard position of not only playing the seven role we had him in an unfamiliar role in the lineout as well and I thought he handled that pretty well."

Source: allblacks.com