It all seems like a blur now. Ulster in a frenzy, a free lunch here and a refusal to serve drinks there ("I'm not serving you, you've got a big match next week"), briefly, and wonderfully uniting the whole country behind them, a pre-match Presidential reception and post-match City Hall reception. But oh, it happened alright.

With the affable Harry Williams at the helm, Ulster's European Cup success transcended mere rugby or even mere sport, it transcended boundaries, political, cultural and geographical.

Recounted like a true coach, Williams cites the full-time whistles at each of the three knock-out games as "treasured moments. There are so many from all different fields. The wonderful crowd scenes at Lansdowne Road, and the hype leading up to the Cup final". Putting it all in perspective, he admits: "It was just something I'd never experienced before, and probably never will again."

Despite it all, nothing much has changed at Ravenhill, where the red brick, olde worldliness has survived intact. For last Wednesday's press conference and team announcement there were scarcely half a dozen journalists present.

Williams was his usual polite self, and as usual was utterly unflustered by supposedly not being able to finalise his side until 15 minutes before the midday briefing. "We were waiting on Captain Marvel," he says of the man sitting beside him, captain David Humphreys, who flickers his eyes skyward in mild embarrassment.

You sense that Humphreys doesn't feel like Captain Marvel right now. After his rollercoaster last year, culminating in that World Cup nadir, Humphreys is something of a barometer for Irish rugby, and you'd be entitled to wonder if he has the desire for it just now.

Having adjourned to a private room in the Ulster Branch offices, he concedes: "Probably in an ideal world, after the World Cup it would have been nice to just go away and forget about rugby, but that wasn't to be and we knew that, so it wasn't ever an issue.

"It's a bit of a cliche, but it is our job now. On it goes. It's a change of scenery, a totally different focal point and it's important in itself."

Besides, Humphreys is phlegmatic about his recent rollercoaster.

"Obviously, I would have liked everything to go well, but I wouldn't change my career. I've enjoyed it - apart from the World Cup. I mean that's something that will always be a huge disappointment no matter what way you look at it. "Okay I missed a kick against France, but you can come back and knock kicks over the next week. It happens. But not to perform at the highest stage for us all was massively disappointing and that will be one of my greatest disappointments when I look back in 10 years' time.

"That's life. You've got to get on, but when you're low you know somewhere along the line you're going to reach the high points again, and that's why you keep playing."

The change of playing climate may be particularly suited to Humphreys. He hates the "enigmatic" and "mercurial" tags, but the added responsibility of being captain as well as calling the shots brought the best out of him for Ulster last season. That the World Cup constituted the nadir of his own career prompts little thought. "No doubt about it. By far and away. It's something we trained for four years and to not achieve what we felt we were capable of achieving was the most disappointing thing."

That last season's European Cup constituted the high point of his career prompts as little thought. "No doubt about it. It was just an incredible occasion more than anything else. The rugby was secondary really, but it was forgotten about quickly because of the disappointment I had the week after against France, and then with the whole build-up and disappointment of the World Cup. So it does seem a long time ago."

The memory he most likes to cherish is turning to the Lansdowne Road crowd in the pre-match walkabout. "The response of the crowd was incredible, and then obviously lifting the European Cup and looking out over the whole of Lansdowne Road covered in red and white. It was pretty spectacular."

So how do you follow that? "It's difficult, the second year is always going to be tougher," concedes Humphreys. "This year the groups are all a lot tougher than they were last year. There's no easy fixtures in any group."

On top of which, as only the two best runners-up in the six groups accompany the winners to the knock-out stages, margins for error are greatly reduced.

"Winning three home games and one away game is the minimum," admits Humphreys. "If you're below that, you've no chance." Ulster's opening defence of their crown is far from ideal, away to Bourgoin. The way Humphreys describes it, after a couple of poor interprovincials, Ulster are looking first and foremost for a big performance, with a win almost a bonus.

Aside from Bourgoin being in good form, with five wins out of five in the French championship, and a renowned home side, the French team - like all others - will now regard Ulster as something of a prized scalp.

Of greater concern has been Ulster's own form. Theoretically a stronger squad than last year's, in practice their form has been less impressive. Most worryingly of all, their pack has struggled in the interprovincials, especially in the set-pieces and even against Connacht.

"Simon Best was originally signed as back-up but was thrown in at the deep end," Williams points out. "He's only 21 and he's going to be a huge star of the future, but really we've had difficulties in the scrum." Cue the timely signing of Fijian World Cup prop Joeli Veitayaki, much to Williams's delight, after a two-year search for a tight-head.

"Big Joe is a star, in every way. He's just a lovely person and an awesome scrummager. We've got a new scrummaging machine and he's practically wrecked the pads on that after only three sessions. He's just immense."

According to Williams, the fallout from last year is that "the expectations are greater than the realities. The Ulster public, although they've been fairly quiet so far, they're expecting us to do better than maybe the realities would be."

That said, even though the English clubs are back, Williams says: "I don't see the English as being a greater force than the French. The English reckon they're going to win the whole bloody lot; that all six teams will qualify and have a private playoff, and lesser mortals can playoff for the junior placings.

"I don't see it going like that at all. I think the provinces, and I include Leinster in this, can do very well in Europe this season. Munster especially, they've an awesome pack. They're not so great behind the scrum, but with that streetwise old pack they have, they should do really well. So, I'm hopeful."