Needless to say Leinster's players to a man reacted with undisguised delight that Matt Williams had decided to remain their coach for another three seasons. Rarely have so many players publicly and privately implored the IRFU to sign or keep hold of a coach to the degree Leinster players had done over the past few weeks and they were all breathing a little easier yesterday, Gerry Thornley

"In the immediate future it's great news," commented Denis Hickie, "but the structures he'll bring in over the next few years will benefit Leinster and Irish rugby over the next 10 years and long after he's gone and I'm gone and the rest of the players are gone.

"I'm absolutely delighted and we all are. He's a great coach and a great bloke. Fair play to the union for doing everything they could to keep him here. People have criticised them in the past but they got it right. In fairness to him it must have been a very difficult decision but it's brilliant that he's decided to stay."

Victor Costello, a key component of both Leinster and the grand slam-seeking Irish A side, described the news as fantastic. "The great thing about it is that it's all systems go from here. The best thing is that Matt himself must be relieved and can start concentrating on the future again. I'm delighted that it's all sorted out."

Reggie Corrigan, another rejuvenated figure under Williams who has captained both Leinster and Ireland A this season, said: "It takes a hell of a lot of pressure off because there had been a few worries about how the future of Leinster lay without him. But now that it's done and dusted hopefully, over the next two or three years, this will be the start of Leinster doing well.

"The IRFU obviously bent over backwards to meet his demands. In the past people would have criticised them for not doing enough in situations like this but they clearly pulled out all the stops, so credit to them and credit to him for making the right decision."

Shane Byrne, who had expressed the fear that a burgeoning Leinster might have been left rudderless, also welcomed the news. "Fair dues to the union. Throughout all the ifs and buts about Matt, Al Gaffney has been keeping the thing ticking over and I hope some appreciation is shown towards him. They're very much a team and I'm sure the union knows that."

This has been, indeed, a significant coup and statement of intent by the IRFU and John Hussey, chairman of the Leinster management committee, admitted: "There was always a doubt to start off with because obviously the financial power of the clubs across the water is very substantial. Realistically there was only so far we could go so it was a concern clearly. But having said we always knew how Matt felt about Leinster and Irish rugby so we were always hopeful that we could come up with a package that he would find attractive.

"We're just delighted that Matt has signed up because we believe we have something special in Leinster and Matt is a very big part of that. We have a lot of plans in place, embryonic at this stage I would have to say, but there's a lot of things we can do and Matt's going to have a huge input into that."