Gerry Thornley talks to Munster's Donncha O'Callaghan who more than made up for a disappointing performance in Lille last year

Redemption man. Last year, in the midst of another Munster back-row injury crux, he made a louder semi-final arrival via the front door and has spent the past year ruminating over a day that just never went his way. Slipping into the squad almost unnoticed this time, and then thrown into the fray after 15 minutes, Donncha O'Callaghan was a man on a mission.

The impression given by O'Callaghan's all-action performance was that whatever else he did, he was going to put his body on the line hook, and sinker. He is, by nature, a highly physical player anyway but here he seemed to get the ball in those huge mits and hurtle into opponents even more than he does with Cork Constitution in the AIL, helped as he was by Gregor Townsend unerringly picking him or Alan Quinlan out with deep restarts.

It seemed almost unkind to mention Lille last year so soon after his finest hour in a Munster jersey, but we didn't have to. O'Callaghan readily revealed that's what was burning away inside him for the past year.

"To be honest with you there was something in my head still about Lille last year that I really wanted to put to bed, and I thought that a big game here was the best way of doing it. So I was glad to kind of put that Lille game to bed."

"I would really say I'm a different player, or that I'm that much older or wiser," he added. "Last year it was different. I was going in there at six and I suppose I talked myself up an awful lot going into that game. I really just wanted to perform for the lads."

Most of all, he wanted to perform for Mick Galwey. Nobody presses the right buttons quite like the legendary Kerryman.

"You see Gaillimh crying at half-time as he was speaking to us, that would shake you to the bones. You see a fella like that, who it means so much to, you have to give everything."

Perhaps, too, a more discreet entrance alleviated the pressure on his young shoulders. "Jim getting injured meant I was called into the 22 and then Anthony getting injured got me in a lot earlier than I expected. But I was happy with the way it went.

"It was quite funny to find myself out there that early in the game. Then there was the sinbinning (of Peter Clohessy) so I was back off, so I really had to keep a level head on the whole thing. The play was broken up a lot as well and I was lucky that little things went my way. The lads were very good too in helping me out."

As he pointed out, it was ironic in many ways that it was Quinlan who he first embraced when Chris White blew the full-time whistle. "I grabbed a hold of Quinny and it was quite weird. I was holding him and thinking 'I could be beating the daylights out of him next week' in the AIL final."

"It's going to be a great end to the season now. There's a big squad of players and we wouldn't have got this far without any of them," said the voice of experience, perhaps on behalf of those players back in Limerick or Cork the past few days.

"Fellas who make little cameo runs every now and then. It's a 30-man squad and they've been great throughout the season in training and in the background as well."

There was a down side, though, he admitted, as coach Kidney walked by. "The worst thing about winning today is that we've four more weeks and 80 more minutes of Declan Kidney."

O'Callaghan drew more accolades than anyone from his fellow players.

"Someone like Donncha deserves special mention," ventured Ronan O'Gara. "I suppose he has been sort of frustrated with the lack of first-team games but he showed his ability out there today and there is no better stage than the semi-final of a European Cup to do that. That's brilliant for the young fella," said the wise old 25-year-old.

"You don't like singling out fellas but he deserves a special mention."

In the same wide passage-way moments before, O'Gara could scarcely put any pressure on his left leg and had positioned himself heavily against a wall. He reckoned he'd cut open his left knee after possibly landing on a sprinkler head beyond the touchline.

The close-up of the emergency stitching to his left knee had been too stomach churning for some viewers, but he said: "Once I went running again it (the pain) was gone."

To a degree, too, he was a frustrated figure on a mission too, having been largely confined to bit parts (albeit impressive ones) as back-up outhalf for Ireland, having lost his place in a post-Lions season. Unlike many of those players suffering from post-Lions fatigue, though, O'Gara is still going strong over this long campaign.

"Whenever I did get game time for Ireland everything was positive. It was nice to do it today for 80 minutes. I think my form has been there all season. So I've just got to keep driving on toward the final. Winning today was sweet but not to be negative about it we have to win one more now."

"It's a final and we're there now but if we lose now people will be calling for our heads," he smiled. "That is why we play rugby, to be in European Cup finals. It's a privilege to be a part of this team. There's fine players not in the 22, never mind on the bench."

Not that they played at their most fluid, he conceded. "It wasn't vintage, I would think. In terms of setpiece on setpiece, and backs on backs, it just seemed to be 15 against 15 all the time. It was physical out there. There were a lot of big hits. They are a very good side and we did well. The bottom line is that it was hard out there and I think everyone is very happy."