SARACENS v MUNSTER REACTION: THE CONSOLATION of victory, no matter how narrow, constituted Munster's reward for digging deep and clinging furiously to their narrow advantage on the scoreboard in the helter-skelter of a fraught endgame at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

The benefit of that resolution is a trip to the Millennium Stadium next month and a Heineken Cup final appearance against Toulouse. It represents a homecoming of sorts as it provided a vivid red backdrop to their 2006 triumph in the tournament.

Given their schedule of victories in this season's competition, including successive play-off victories on the road, it's about time they were allowed to indulge, even if it's only the perception of a home comfort.

Munster were gracious in victory, the players uncomfortably aware of just how close they stood to the opposite spectrum of emotion at the final whistle.

The term relief was the principal description of how the Munster players felt in the immediate aftermath and even with time to corral their thoughts it was peppered throughout the soundbites.

Munster captain Paul O'Connell offered a verbal snapshot into the maelstrom of yesterday's gripping drama. "It was two different halves weather-wise. At the start of second half, it was really tipping down, but you have to be able to play both games. The first 20 minutes were played at unbelievable pace.

"I hadn't played since the Gloucester game, so I found it particularly tough. It was a massively paced game. Of all the games I've played this year, even the international matches, it was by far the quickest. It's been very tough, but we've done it.

"The guys from years before, Gaillimh (Mick Galwey), Axel (Anthony Foley), Claw (Peter Clohessy) had paved the way, so going away from home isn't as hard for us.

"It has been very tough, an away quarter-final and an away semi-final and the toughest group in the whole competition, so it's been a good run for us. We're through to the final, so we'll see what happens."

The last sentiments betray the classic understatement with which Munster players publicly downgrade achievement. Comparisons may indeed be odious, a maxim to which O'Connell would subscribe when asked to value the feat of reaching this season's final against their 2006 triumph.

"Yeah, 2006 was great, but it's a completely different journey for us at the moment. (In) 2006 we'd never done it. There was this aching fear in our minds that we might go through our careers and never win a Heineken Cup.

"You've got to reassess then and get your motivation from somewhere else. We struggled with that last year and I think we got to grips with it this year, and are performing quite well.

"We're playing clever rugby most of the time, not all the time, and to come through the matches we've come through, it says a lot for the squad and the management."

He denied that being better versed in the requirements to win the trophy would alter Munster's mindset ahead of the final.

"Relax more? I don't know about that. Toulouse are the best team in Europe historically and it's going to be very tough for us.

"It's a position we like to be in, I suppose. We're building ourselves up to take on a bigger team, a team with a bigger budget, and it's going to be very tough."

When the subject of the man of the match was approached O'Connell offloaded the kudos with a dexterity he normally reserves for his on-pitch incarnation.

He smiled: "Man of the match is a funny thing. You can make one or two breaks, have one or two carries and you get an award like that. You get other guys like (John) Hayes and Donners (Donncha O'Callaghan) who clear out 20 rucks in a row and you won't get it.

"It's nice to get it, and it has been a tough year (on the injury front), but it's all about the squad. You look back at 2006 and you have Frankie Sheahan playing on the Munster team for years and Jerry Flannery came in.

"It's tough when you're on the sideline, but that's part and parcel of it as well. It's a squad game, and I'm no different.

"It's tough for Micko (Mick O'Driscoll) now watching on after having such a great season, but it's a big team thing. That's the best thing about it.

"I've had injuries, but I was lucky in that I came back from injury and I was lucky to be picked for Gloucester. I felt very lucky, because Micko had been playing so well and Donncha Ryan had been playing so well. To play two big games and not be sitting in the stand with the lads is great."

He also has a word or two for flanker Alan Quinlan, who scored Munster's vital second try.

"Rog (Ronan O'Gara) took a quick tap, Leams (Denis Leamy) took it up well, and quick ball we normally try to leave to the scrumhalf to play it. Like Wally (David Wallace) in the past, Quinny's picked and gone off quick ball and scored tries.

"That's his football ability. He picked it going against the grain, and it was a great try. He's such a clever footballer that sometimes (when) guys like that do things you just have to get in behind them because they've spotted something that most other guys haven't."

Munster have earned the right to look forward and with the red army set to revisit the scene of their greatest triumph, in Cardiff, it won't be thwarted by any financial considerations.

As O'Connell observed: "People talk about the credit crunch, but I'm sure that will be forgotten about and they'll find a way to get to Cardiff."