Finally. After so many years of falling just short, Munster secured the most elusive of prizes and will take the Heineken Cup back to Limerick tonight.
Finally. After so many years of falling just short, Munster secured the most elusive of prizes and will take the Heineken Cup back to Limerick tonight.
A dramatic, nail-biting final saw them edge past Biarritz thanks in no small part to a massive forward effort and the contribution of man-of-the-match Peter Stringer.
Declan Kidney's side, denied at the death in their two previous final appearances and losers in the semi or quarter-finals on five other occasions, pierced the much-vaunted French defence with two first-half tries.
Having fallen behind to a hotly disputed score after just three minutes, Munster upped the tempo and hit back with two tries of their own. First Trevor Halstead barged his way over before Stringer hoodwinked Serge Betsen for an impudent score of his own.
Ronan O'Gara and Dimitri Yachvilli, who both ended the day with 100 per cent records, exchanged penalities before the break to leave the score 17-10 to Declan Kidney's side at the interval.
O'Gara tagged on another penalty immediately after the restart but two Yachvili penalties reduced Munster's lead to four points and it was the turn of the French champions to apply the pressure.
Munster were creaking, Paul O'Connell, Anthony Foley and Marcus Horan forced off through injury and another Yachvili penalty 10 minutes from the end brought Biarritz to within a point.
But roared on by more than 50,000 of the 74,000 crowd, they kept their nerve in a gut-wrenching finale. With the roof closed, the noise from the walls of red surpassed even that of Wales's grand-slamming winning triumph over Ireland last year and drove the Munster players on.
O'Gara again replied with a successful kick and despite some desperate defending at the death, Munster finally delivered the one piece of silverware that means so much to their travelling hordes.
Munster: Shaun Payne; Anthony Horgan, John Kelly, Trevor Halstead, Ian Dowling; Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer; Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, Denis Leamy, David Wallace, Anthony Foley (capt).
Replacements used: Federico Pucciariello for Horan (63 mins), Mick O'Driscoll for Foley (71), Alan Quinlan for O'Connell (76). Not used: Denis Fogarty, Tomas O'Leary, Jeremy Manning, Rob Henderson.
Biarritz: Nicolas Brusque; Jean-Baptiste Gobelet, Philippe Bidabe, Damien Traille, Sireli Bobo; Julien Peyrelongue, Dimitri Yachvili; Petru Vladimir Balan, Benoit August, Census Johnson, Jerome Thion, David Couzinet, Serge Betsen, Imanol Harinordoquy, Thomas Lievremont (capt).
Replacements used: Olivier Olibeau for Couzinet (45 mins), Thierry Dusautoir for Lievremont (52), Federico Martin Aramburu for Traille (53), Benoit Lecouls for Johnson (63), Benjamin Noirot for August (67), Census Johnson for Balan (72). Not used: Manuel Carizza, Julien Dupuy.
Referee: Chris White (England)
