EUROPEAN CUP FINAL/The Neil Black Incident: With the questions comes the truth. In the bright new world of professional rugby, there is no room for balladeers and rebels and soul, all the qualities that made Munster famous.

The Irish team fell to more talented opponents, but they also came undone against a philosophy that is corporate and merciless.

Leicester are the antithesis of everything that Munster are about: they win because they are in the business of winning. Dean Richards, a lion heart from England's last amateur days, led the chorus of defence for Neil Back, who destroyed Munster's last stand with a thieving hand that was a brazen act of professional fouling.

"At the end of the day it was a decision by Neil, who I believe to be a winner," Richards explained quietly on Saturday evening around the same time as Peter Clohessy unlaced his boots for the last time ever.

"You may cast him as a cheat, but if you do you're going to cast anybody who gave away a penalty today as a cheat. Was it any different to the way Clohessy was scrummaging? Neil Back made a decision for Leicester rugby and I have no problem with that. At the end of the day it was part of the winning process for us."

Martin Johnson, Leicester's gargantuan and abrasive captain was equally unmoved: "I don't really know what happened, the ball just seemed to shoot back to our half and I was glad to see it."

What he may not have seen, of course, was Back's hand scooping the ball the very instant Peter Stringer put in for Munster's last scrum just a few metres short of the Leicester line. Inside the Millennium Stadium, eerily lit and cavernous with its roof drawn closed, 74,000 people rubbed their eyes. It was such an audaciously bold act that several couldn't believe they had seen it, even as Stringer skipped over towards the touch-judge in obvious anger and distress.

It seemed a wrong conclusion, a cold and sly way to cull a proud team whose virtues have always been about warmth and honesty.

But it worked.

"I did what I had to do to ensure a win for Leicester," was Back's own remorseless reaction afterwards. "This game is all about little edges - particularly in finals and doing what you can do to win. That was a very crucial scrum."

After all the adventure and fun and spirit that have followed Munster for the past two years, the words seemed small and mean and cynical, but the inference was clear - he would do the same thing again. Leicester is about winning above all, above anything.

And Back's contribution prior to that blatant act of spoiling had been magnificent. Regardless of emotion, Leicester were the better team, more polished and tidy in an uneasy and taut encounter.

Austin Healey, the sprightly creator brimming with bubbly arrogance, inspired the defining moments of the game.

To Leicester fans, he was an adorable genius, to the Munster masses, he was something less than printable.

A fella with an annoying head on him. Sitting across from the European Cup, Healey was even more bouncy than usual. "I thought I was luck to get picked," he began as Martin Johnson nodded in vigorous agreement.

"I have not been at my best lately and I owed the lads a big game. It would have been a hell of a long summer if we lost so I went out and gave it everything.

"We were tired and we lost a bit of form, but today the heart was in it. This means everything to the club. I'd almost dare to say I look forward to playing again now."

Cheeky and intelligent as his try was, Healey's most important play was his last-ditch tackle on John O'Neill.

"I had to do something, otherwise he was in. I knew straightaway he hit the flag pole, I felt it go. I was just hoping the fourth official liked me." "No chance of that, Austin," Johnson grinned.

As Healey chirped on, Dean Richards remained expressionless. Eventually, he was asked about Munster, asked to explain how twice they failed to deliver in the very theatre they did so much to create. Perhaps, for all their depth, some crucial element was absent.

"I don't think they are missing anything. Munster are a fantastic team and I think they have probably been the form team over the past four years. We set goals at the start of the season.

"We haven't achieved all of them, but we've come away with the biggest one. It's been a difficult year, but there's a resilience in our side that no other side has got."

Also, Leicester have a will to win that differs from Munster's quaint, traditional will based on ferocity and rousing choruses and feeling. It is emptier and leaves nothing much to shout about.

But it works.