Tom Shanklin has won 63 international caps for Wales

Tom Shanklin has urged European rugby chiefs to rethink the penalty shootout rule after it cost his Cardiff Blues a place in the Heineken Cup final.

Leicester Tigers beat the Blues 7-6 on penalties as the teams were tied 26-26 after extra time in Cardiff on Sunday.

The Blues are the first team to lose a match by virtue of a controversial shootout and both Leicester and Cardiff players have questioned the system.

"I don't know if it's the right idea to end a game like that," said Shanklin.

The Blues amazingly suffered the heartache of being knocked out of European rugby's premier club competition despite not losing a game of rugby in the tournament.

Lions centre Shanklin successfully kicked one of the Blues penalties but his experienced Welsh international team-mate Martyn Williams was not so lucky in the shootout "lottery" in a miss that cost Cardiff a Heineken Cup final place.

"It is a devastating way to end a game of such importance," Shanklin told BBC Sport.

"Penalty shootouts in rugby are something you don't think about until you're in the position.

"I feel for Martyn because I don't know how you can ask a forward to kick for goal, it is such a lottery.

"How can you end a competition like that? I know it is the same for both sides but it shouldn't come down to that."

This is not the way I would have wanted to get through to the Heineken Cup final Leicester captain Geordan Murphy

Shanklin was not alone in his condemnation for the contentious finale of such a high-profile and big-money European showdown with a Heineken Cup final against Irish province Leinster at stake.

The Tigers qualified for their fifth European final but experienced Irish full-back Geordan Murphy was disappointed in the way they qualified for the Murrayfield showpiece on 23 May.

"I don't know if we'd like to have won it like that," said the Leicester captain.

"I think it is very disappointing as I don't think Cardiff can feel that they've lost that game.

"It is a tough way to win a game. Although I felt we were the better side on the day, we would have preferred to win it a nicer way.

"I feel genuinely sorry for the Cardiff boys as that could have easily been us getting knocked out.

"This is not the way I would have wanted to get through to the Heineken Cup final - but we'll take it."

Blues coach Dai Young also spoke out as pressure increases on The ERC to review how such crucial games are decided in the event of a draw.

Young said: "It's not a great way to win and it's a worse way to lose. It was a horrible way to go out, but somebody had to win.

"We knew the rules going in, although we all hoped it wouldn't come down to that.

"To have sudden death with both sides playing would seem a fairer way of doing things, but we would say that."

And Murphy concedes the Leicester players were unsure how the game would be settled after the Blues came from 26-12 down after 74 minutes to tie the game.

"After the final whistle I turned to the referee to ask him what the exact situation was," said Murphy.

"We originally thought it would be decided by drop-goals and if that was the case, a lot more people would have missed."

606: DEBATE After 100 minutes the game was tied at 26-26 and the nerves of both sets of fans thoroughly shredded but what came next was breath taking JasonRobinson-AKA-BillyWhiz

Jamie Roberts and Tom James scored converted tries to complete a dramatic comeback while Leicester were reduced to 13 men to secure extra time, which finished scoreless.

James had a shot at kicking a Welsh region into a Heineken Cup final for the first time when Leicester's Johne Murphy missed but the young wing hooked wide from 22 metres.

"I was happy to step up," he admitted.

"But I now realise football players feel like when they are taking penalties in a big shootout, the pressure is unbelievable and I'm gutted."

Shanklin offered words of consolation for his distraught team-mates who missed penalties.

"I really feel for the boys who missed," he said.

"But we said before the penalties, no matter what happens we can leave with our heads held high as we've done well in this completion.

"I know the game has to be decided some way.

"Instead of penalties, they could decided a winner on a team's disciplinary record or how many games they had won in the tournament - of which we would have won both."

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