Scott Hamilton's light-hearted banter with Leicester Tigers' kicking coach Paul Burke about being a shoot-out king turned into gripping reality as the Kiwi winger stayed on course for a rarely-achieved double.

Hamilton wants to add a Heineken Cup winner's medal to the Super 14 title he won with Crusaders and become only the second player in Tigers'  history after Rod Kafer to achieve the feat.

Hamilton was a pivotal figure in yesterday's dramatic finale, making sure the shoot-out went into sudden-death when he stroked the ball through the posts to take full advantage of Cardiff Blues' Tom James missed kick which would have given the home side the honours.

Hamilton said: "I talked to Burkey before the game because I'd read about the shoot-out in the programme and we had a chuckle.

"He said I would be the sixth or seventh kicker if it happened but, when Toby Flood went off injured, I ended up being at number five.

"It put a lot of pressure on me because it came down to me either way, especially with us kicking second."

However the 29-year-old said he had kicked "a few goals" with the Crusaders.

And he is also part of the Tigers' contingent who practise their dead-ball accuracy after training at Oval Park.

That gave him the confidence to deliver – and he duly did.

He said: "Practising is one thing and, with only 22 metres in front of you, it's a pretty small kick.

"But it's tough when you are in the high pressure situation we found ourselves in.

"You have just got to go through your normal routine, make sure you properly follow through and hope it goes over.

"It had become a bit of a circus by then but a few guys trying to put the ball between the posts certainly beats a toss of the coin."

Hamilton was making his bow at the Millennium Stadium and the sheer thrill of the contest matched the magnificent surroundings.

 He scored his fourth try in the Heineken for Tigers to open the scoring as Richard Cockerill's side built a 23-12 advantage to delight the 15,000 travelling Green and White Army.

However, the loss of both Craig Newby and Geordan Murphy to the sin-bin drained Tigers' powers of resistance and Hamilton admitted they were pleased to get to extra-time with the scores locked at 26-26.

"The yellow cards cost us and Cardiff played well to come back," said Hamilton.

"We got together and regrouped as they were all over us in the last 10 minutes but it changed straight away in extra-time and we gained the territory."

Now Tigers face Leinster in Edinburgh on May 23 and Hamilton knows he is one step closer to the double dream.

He said: "It is something I want to achieve because there aren't too many players who have done it and I would be really proud and chuffed it to do it."

Hamilton believes the big-match intensity will quickly return for this weekend's Guinness Premiership semi-final clash with Bath at the Walkers Stadium.

However, he would have probably preferred them to have made their route to the Heineken a more straightforward one.

He said: "We'll have only a few days to prepare and most of the guys have played 100 minutes. But it's a semi-final and we shouldn't need much raising to be up for that one."