London Irish - 38 Northampton - 7English Cup final: London Irish have a recurring fantasy of a Heineken Cup tie next season against a top Irish province in front of 25,000 thirsty Celtic ex-pats at a sold-out Madejski Stadium.
Saturday's events, though, were something else again. "Beyond our wildest dreams," confessed the Exiles' director of rugby Conor O'Shea after seeing one of the more compelling team displays in the 31-year history of the cup finals.
Not only did London Irish win their first major trophy in 104 years of existence, they did so with a vibrancy and certainty over 80 minutes which few sides, international or otherwise, manage on such traditionally nerve-laden occasions. Victory by five tries to one, Justin Bishop and Geoff Appleford claiming two apiece, was never in doubt and, if Northampton were a bitter disappointment, the exuberant spectacle was anything but.
On this evidence London Irish's player-coach Brendan Venter, a qualified medical practitioner, has no peers as the Dr Feelgood of rugby and the depth of feeling in the team huddle at the final whistle, when he thanked his side and their heavenly creator for their respective contributions, was enough to reduce his full back Michael Horak to tears.
It mattered not, as Twickenham's bars reverberated to The Fields Of Athenry and Molly Malone, that the influential muscles on view frequently belonged to men with strong South African accents; Ireland have had too many recent dark days in this stadium to be choosy. "The guys deserve as many bottles of champagne or pints of Guinness as they can get their hands on," smiled O'Shea.
The trick that Irish have mastered under Venter, however, is living life to the full without losing sight of their professional ambitions. "This is obviously the greatest day in the club's history but it's nothing if we don't build on it," added O'Shea, reverting to the set text which he and Venter endlessly preach. "If we don't go out and perform against Pontypridd in the European Shield semi-finals on Saturday it won't be worth a whole lot."
It would be a massive omission, though, not to pause and salute not only Venter, who won the man of the match award, but his willing lieutenants such as the captain Ryan Strudwick, Chris Sheasby and particularly the 24-year-old Appleford.
"Applebush", as Venter calls him, opened Irish's account with a well-worked 13th-minute try, saved his side from occasional defensive alarms with some nifty footwork and demonstrated pace and a mathematician's awareness of angles in avoiding the cover and completing an 80-metre scoring run from the interception of a Matt Dawson pass.
O'Shea also hailed Bishop, who has drifted out of Irish national contention, as "one of the best defensive wings in Europe" and called him "everything you'd ever want in a player and a person".
He certainly has a sense of humour, having to be dissuaded by O'Shea from wearing a tee-shirt with "Free Little Mo" written on it in reference to the EastEnders storyline. Northampton, sadly, could have selected Ian Beale at full back rather than Nick Beal and would not have fared much worse.
Despite 14 internationals in their starting line-up they began sluggishly, soon discovering that London Irish had sussed out how to disrupt their lineout, and crucially they could not summon anything like the desire of the men in green. "One team fronted and the other side didn't," said their coach Wayne Smith.
By the end, piquantly, the scoreboard showed an identical scoreline to Northampton's own splendid semi-final win over Newcastle, and Ben Cohen's 59th-minute try from Paul Grayson's cross-kick was a rare moment of synchronicity in a less-than-Saintly performance.
"They hit us hard in the collisions and we didn't come up with the right answers," admitted the captain Budge Pountney, captured on camera having a heated debate with Dawson as they headed back down the tunnel at half-time trailing 24-0.
Dawson was equally unhappy with a forearm to the head from Venter and, briefly, the bad feeling between individuals on either side threatened to sour Irish's sweetest day. Ultimately, though, the Exiles' resounding margin of victory was second only to Bath's 48-6 win over Gloucester in 1990 and celebratory glasses were raised high from Durban to Donegal.
Yorkshire clubs completed a hat-trick in the three other finals contested at Twickenham on Saturday. Rotherham edged out Exeter 35-26 to win the inaugural Shield, Halifax beat Gosport & Fareham 43-19 in the Intermediate Cup and the Halifax-based side Heath defeated Bromley 19-10 to win the Vase.
LONDON IRISH: Horak; Sackey, Appleford, Venter (Hoadley, 75), Bishop; Everitt (Brown, 79), Martens (Edwards, 57); Worsley, Drotske (Kirke, 46), Hardwick (Halford, 46), Strudwick (capt), Williams (Delaney, 72), Halvey (Cockle, 76), Danaher, Sheasby. Scorers: Tries: Appleford 2, Horak, Bishop 2. Cons: Everitt 5. Pen: Everitt. Sin-bin: Worsley, 58
NORTHAMPTON: Beal; Moir (Brooks, h-t), Jorgensen, Leslie (Tucker, 75), Cohen; Grayson, Dawson; Smith, Thompson (Richmond, 51), Stewart (Morris, 51), Ackermann (Phillips, 57), Brouzet, Blowers, Pountney (capt), Seely. Scorers: Try: Cohen. Con: Grayson. Sin-bin: Morris, 58.
Referee: S Lander (England).
