A camper van with a Limerick registration rolled up the main street, horns beeping, red flags waving. Across the road, a gang from Kilfeakle & District rugby club, dressed mostly in faded Munster jerseys, roared them on.
Inside a packed O'Neill pub, yet another verse of Stand Up and Fight boomed from the speakers.
It could have been Limerick's O'Connell Street on the afternoon of another legendary Thomond Park match. But this was the scene yesterday on St Mary's Street, Cardiff, at about 3.35pm, as the Welsh capital was transformed by Munster's red army on manoeuvres ahead of today's Heineken European Cup final when Munster play Biarritz.
"This is what it's all about," said Johnny Luby (50), president of Kilfeakle rugby club in Co Tipperary, surveying the scene around him. "They're just a great, bloody province. The following is huge, as always. I think everyone in Ireland is going to be a Munster fan this weekend."
Luby had travelled over with 70 other club members from villages such as Rosegreen and Annacarthy, in the hope of seeing Munster win its first Heineken Cup final on its third attempt.
"I feel uncomfortable with this favourites tag. Biarritz are dangerous. It's just the weight of betting making Munster favourites. Despite everything, I think it's a 50:50 match."
The 70,000 Munster fans due to take over most of Cardiff's Millennium Stadium today began to pour in through ferry terminals, airports and railway stations all day yesterday.
Cardiff Airport hasn't been able to cope with the demand. Instead, fans have been flying to Bath, Birmingham and London to get to Cardiff in time. Thousands more spent anxious hours, waiting to know if their ferry sailings would be cancelled due to rough seas. One group of friends even sailed a yacht from Cork to Milford Haven to make the match in time.
Accommodation in Cardiff, meanwhile, is almost non-existent except for those with the deepest pockets.
By yesterday evening the Cardiff Tourist Agency had just two vacancies: a room at Jury's Hotel at £255 (€368) per night, or the Angel Hotel for £345.
"It's been impossible to find anything, but, sure, we'll play it by ear," said Brian Phelan (24), an engineer from Tralee. "We were checking out a few bus shelters earlier, just in case. The other option is a car, but there's five of us, so it could be a bit of a squeeze." The best accommodation Fergal Butler (39), a member of Thurles rugby club from Upperchurch, Co Tipperary, could find was the floor of a friend's hotel room.
"Something will turn up. It always does. Otherwise, we'll just have to stay out drinking all night," he said, not sounding altogether displeased at the latter prospect.
But spare a thought for the 70 members of Kilfeakle rugby club, booked into a total of three twin-bedrooms in the Hilton Hotel. "It's about 20 to a room, but I don't think everyone will make it to bed," said Pat Cormack (48). "If they do, we'll just have to sleep in rotas."
Meanwhile, around the streets of Cardiff some of the giant banners due to adorn the stadium were being put on display. "Irish by birth, Munster by grace of God" is one. "To the brave and the faithful, nothing is impossible", is another.
Students Sean Mangan (22) and Brian Gleeson (22) were sporting homemade T-shirts, with a new take on an old theme.
The red T-shirts feature the photo of the now celebrated Munster streaker who tackled a Perpignan player in the final minutes of their quarter-final victory earlier this year, under the heading "LEGEND".
"He's the latest Munster legend," said Mangan. "Who else but a Munster fan would do something like that?"
Editorial comment: page 17