The big man, immediately recognisable, slips into the room, taking up position at the rear of the assembled media. All eyes are trained on the departing Biarritz contingent and eagerly await the arrival of Declan Kidney, man of the match Peter Stringer and Anthony Foley.

Munster PRO Pat Geraghty places the European Cup on the top table. The drained, yet unbowed, trio take their seats alongside.

"Go on, Foley!" roars the man from the back wall.

"Ah, Gaillimh," yells Foley - immediately dropping his guard on recognition of his leader from so many past battles on the odyssey to Saturday.

Mick Galwey strides forward to embrace his friend. Others follow suit. The press conference can wait as hard men shed tears for a second time in one day.

Moments later, as the euphoria abates momentarily to allow some questions, Stringer catches his former minder's eye. No words are required. Thanks. He can look after himself now but the memory of Galwey grabbing him and Ronan O'Gara in a bear hug on their breakthrough to the international stage is etched in the annals of Irish rugby.

Oh, and Stringer lacks the ability to break? Come off it.

"I could see the winger (Sereli Bobo) was standing slightly behind the scrum so when the ball went to Anthony's feet at the back I turned my back and guessed, and hoped, he would work infield - from the analysis we had done on them. Thankfully, when I picked he wasn't standing in my way."

Kidney was his usual non-effusive self. When asked to explain what it means on a personal level to have attained the "holy grail", he deflected the question by falling back on his unerring mantra that the players are the priority, he being merely the facilitator.

"I heard Ronan quoted after the semi-final that you had to be in the dressingroom really to try and understand what it means to everybody. It's definitely about the players. Without a shadow of a doubt they won it.

"It's not just the players. It's the players' partners, their families. The next-door neighbour. It's everybody. If goodwill was ever going to win a competition this was the one it was going to win.

"It doesn't get easier. For one split second I saw the screen for O'Connell Street. How the hell do you describe that? In fact the answer to that question is I can't."

The Triple Crown, the Celtic League and now this. This was supposed to be a dark year for Irish rugby so it felt slightly surreal watching the Munster players receive their medals. Then Foley lifted the cup and it felt right. Perfect actually.

Foley wanted to take the entire Munster family up to the winners' podium but wasn't allowed. Instead, on receiving the trophy he formed a circle to include injured players, coaches and the backroom team. Most of the 74,534 crowd lapped it up. They too were spent, having played a remarkable role to lift the players when doubts crept in.

"Our supporters are very knowledgeable about rugby and they kept with us," remarked Foley. "Never got on our backs and I think when you go to an opposition ground you play to silence the crowd.

"Our crowd wouldn't be silenced today. In fairness to them, people say they are our 16th man and maybe they are.

"I think they see something in us they can relate to. Over the years, since '99, they've been putting their hand into their pocket - their own hard-earned cash - to follow us around Europe. It's great now we can finally bring them home some silverware. It's as much for the players, our families, our supporters. It's important because we all just feel like one. That's the big thing about this team."

The old "secret of success" query was put. Stringer had a decent stab at putting into words the unexplainable.

"It's something that comes from where we are, where we live. The people that are around us. Friends and family. It's a special place to be. You walk down the street and people come up to you. You see how much it means to their lives. It's a combination of everything and thankfully it clicked."

It was right that Galwey was present at the Millennium Stadium, and the Claw, representing as they do the departed legends who laid the foundations.