Crusaders second-five Ryan Crotty has admitted the penalty try in their 45-23 win over the Chiefs would have been a tough pill to swallow for their rivals.
With 10 minutes to go and leading by just three points, the Crusaders were award a controversial seven-pointer by referee Ben O'Keefe.
Lachlan Boshier was deemed to have tackled Crotty high and made contact with the head in an effort to stop him from scoring.
The result was a yellow card and a 10-point buffer for the home side, with little time remaining.
Crotty has conceded the Chiefs were unlucky in the outcome and said he was surprised by the referee's ruling.
"I actually got up and everyone was back on halfway, I didn't really think it was going to be a penalty try, I was just listening to doc, they were telling what to do," he said.
"If he hadn't had hit me I might've scored, like if he had tackled me around the legs I would've reached out and scored it, so kind of can't [guess what would have happened] really."
He did however offer some insight into how the situation could have been avoided and said he understands the crackdown when it comes to making contact with the head.
"I guess that's just the rules, maybe if he was set there earlier and wasn't chasing across, he might've got a dominate shot on me," he said.
"Maybe because he's chasing he had to kind of tackle like that and maybe that's how you avoid that."
Crotty looked to be in trouble after the collision and revealed there was a bit of concern by his team's doctors.
"I thought I could sneak over, next thing I knew I was bundled out over the side-line and had bit of a sore neck," he said.
"I was just listening to doc and Roche and they were kind of telling me not to move, 'Can you feel my fingers?' stuff like that, so it was a bit weird.
"We knew the Chiefs were going to be physical, New Zealand derbies always are and certainly lived up to that."
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