RUGBY EUROPEAN CUP FINAL:IT SAYS something about Alan Quinlan's ill-luck and resilience that the highlight of his career thus far amounted to about six minutes on the pitch. It was, of course, the 2006 final when Munster fulfilled their magnificent obsession. It was, he says, his greatest achievement.

Defying medical opinion to recover from a knee operation in November '05 five months later to earn a place on the replacements bench for the final against Biarritz, he couldn't have done it without a host of other people's help, not least the Irish physio Brian Green, whose personal commitment to Quinlan in travelling to Limerick three days a week, most weeks, was above and beyond the call of duty.

"He was the first person I phoned after the final to thank him. I suppose it was part of his job as the Irish rehab specialist but I think he went beyond that. He definitely gave me more time than I should have been allowed. It wasn't as if I was an integral part of the Irish team. But I think he enjoyed it himself."

Helped by the advice of Green, who even presented videos of Quinlan doing speed and agility work, and Dr Gary O'Driscoll, the Union awarded Quinlan a two-year deal that January. "That was a fantastic gesture and they're very supportive of their players. I can't say a bad word about them," he says.

Buoyed by that, when Munster overcame Perpignan in the quarter-finals the day after Leinster had beaten Toulouse, it dawned on him that "we could be in the final here and there might be a chance I could get back."

Grateful to Declan Kidney as well, he felt bad that his recall to the bench was at the expense of Stephen Keogh.

"He lived with me for a year and a half, and we're very good friends. I suppose it was very hard for him to take but I had to focus on preparing for a final. And preparing for a final so soon was amazing."

Warming up behind one of the goals, he was suddenly stunned when Jerry Holland informed him he was coming on. "I was like: 'this can't be happening'. It's funny, you look for the perfect ending to stories but it rarely happens that way. Yet I just knew it was all going to happen that way. For some reason, I just felt that no matter what happened I was going to get back for the final and Munster were going to win it, and I was going to get on at the end.

"I couldn't wait for the whistle to go and I didn't want to touch the ball. I didn't want to do a thing. And I don't think I touched the ball or made a tackle, to be honest," he says, self-mockingly. "But that suited me just grand."

"It was a fantastic thing to be part of it, having been involved with Munster so long and come so close, and what it meant to people. You don't deserve things because you lost things in the past but it certainly would have been disappointing for the core of that group if we hadn't won it."

This season, his bad luck struck again when a dislocated finger ruled him out of the Llanelli games after a barnstorming start away to Wasps and at home to Clermont. On the bench in the final two pool games, he forced his way back with two big performances in the quarter-final and semi-final. Again though, it's tinged with empathy for the player who lost out and who Quinlan has perhaps admired more than any other, Anthony Foley.

He feels he's played more of a part this time but, knowing he was behind the posse, he remains phlegmatic about the lack of opportunity that came his way in the World Cup, if less so in the Six Nations. "I just wanted that taste of playing for Ireland again, to measure myself again."

His line-out work, his in-yer-face aggression and spoiling around the fringes, his tackling and his ball-carrying have left him with few, if any, peers as a number six in Europe this season. As a low mileage 33-year-old with another year's contract, and about to be married to Ruth in June, he seems in a happy place, but is hungry for more.

"I suppose there's a bit of determination in me because I have had a stuttery four years since the World Cup, with the shoulder and knee injuries, being suspended, not being picked on tours. I've enjoyed this season. I've actually felt tired this season, which was nice. It's a strange way to feel. You become a bit battle-hardened."

Reflecting on how Munster almost threw away a great opportunity against Saracens to compete in another final, Quinlan says "to be considered a great team we need to win another one."

Although a Liverpool supporter, he admires the achievements of players like Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs for, as he's got older, akin to most players, he realises the game ultimately comes down to one barometer. "It's all about winning trophies.

"You're judged on trophies. It doesn't always happen. You can try your damnedest to be successful and win stuff, that's why we consider ourselves quite lucky in Munster. We've worked very hard to be in the position we're in. It just doesn't happen overnight, and it hasn't happened by chance. We've had talented players, but also hard workers, on and off the pitch."

Tomorrow, he is sure, will be a massive challenge and undoubtedly a very tight game. "I think Toulouse are a little more dangerous than us and probably the biggest challenge we've faced this season. But we're capable of winning the game, and we'll do everything we can to do so."

You know it, and you know Quinlan will.