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David Havili says golden point drop goal against Hurricanes was 'off the cuff'

April 13, 2021

Havili said he doesn't think he's kicked one before Sunday's game-winner.

It's extra time. Richie Mo'unga hits the Hurricanes' line and is brought down 15 metres out from the try line in front of the posts. The ball is fired back to David Havili in the pocket and he slots the game-winning drop goal.

The move worked to perfection with the Crusaders nabbing a 30-27 golden point win in a thriller in Wellington although the hero of the moment, Havili, admitted today it wasn't a planned set piece at all.

"I just sort of did it off the cuff," Havili said.

"I saw Richie [Mo'unga] was in the ruck and lucky enough there was only one guy charging down the ball so I got it away."

In fact, the move was so spontaneous, Havili believes it may have been the first drop goal of his rugby career.

"I don't think I've ever hit one," he said.

"If I have, it would've been at club rugby so definitely a while."

Havili said the Crusaders have always intended in situations like that for All Blacks star Mo'unga to take those drop goals but with him at the bottom of a ruck after his hit up, the 26-year-old decided to step up to the moment.

It was the second golden point result of the weekend after the Chiefs nabbed a win over the Highlanders in extra time on Saturday.

Havili said it was good to get some experience playing golden point rugby under the team's belt after it was only introduced this year for Super Rugby Aotearoa.

"It's good to cover those bases," he said.

"We do plan for that stuff but when you're in the moment, things can change and we've seen that at the weekend with Richie at the bottom of the ruck so it's good to have that experience.

"The [Highlanders and Chiefs] had the one the night before so it was good to watch that in the team room and get a step ahead."

Havili said the general idea when it comes to golden point rugby, from his team's point of view, is to win the toss, opt to kick, kick the ball deep and pin down the opponent until you earn the ball in their half for a chance to win.

The two golden point victors now face each other this week with the Chiefs running red-hot on a three-game winning streak, although their last loss came at the hands of the Crusaders 39-17 last month.

Havili expects the game will be much tighter this time around.

"There's a few execution areas we can work on this week to prepare for a good Chiefs side."

The Crusaders and Chiefs face off at 7pm this Saturday at Waikato Stadium.

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