THE MOST obvious starting points for any post-match conversation with the Munster number eight Denis Leamy were the try he scored and the one that got away. The legitimate score was achieved by stealth, mimicking the quarterback sneak from US gridiron, the Tipperary man diving under a mass of bodies, propelled by Donncha O'Callaghan and Alan Quinlan.

The combativeness of goal-line defence means that while the starting and end points of the journey might only have been separated by a yard, there is traditionally a ferocity to the dispute over that piece of turf.

Leamy was delighted to get a second opportunity, having earlier been deemed by the television match official Derek Bevan to have lost control in the act of dotting down from a ruck on the Toulouse line.

Before the ruling arrived, Leamy gave off all the right signals, persuading his team-mates to head for the halfway line. It's part of rugby's harmless masquerade.

He smiled: "You've got to bluff, got to keep the poker face. It was very close. Had I control? It's difficult to say, whether I got a little bit of downward pressure, but you have to respect the referee's decision. The good thing was that we came straight back up the field and got a "real try". That says it all about the team effort."

The last statement is a classic example of the way Leamy prefers to defer to the team rather than personally accept the spotlight. He was more comfortable talking about his on-pitch outriders, and one in particular who not alone facilitated Leamy in scoring his try but was ultimately singled out as the game's best player.

"Alan Quinlan. He's always a nuisance. He's nearly more of a nuisance for us than he is for the opposition. He was fantastic, a proud Tipperary man and a proud Munster man. He played with his heart on his sleeve and has had a great season and I'm delighted for him in getting man of the match: he deserves everything he gets."

Assigning a pecking order to Munster's Heineken Cup triumphs is a conundrum Leamy might mull over during a spare summer hour, but what he was able to confirm on Saturday night was his determination to live in the moment - at least for the next few days.

"It what's we have talked about over the last two years. We wanted to earn a place among Europe's elite and it's great to back that up. It's fantastic to have the trophy coming back to Munster. In a lot of ways it means more than the first one - and that says a lot.

"We are the perennial underdog and we are very parochial. Most of our players are home-based and from around Munster, and to beat a great side like Toulouse with their world stars, is great. These are the days.

"Inevitably they are going to start talking about number three.Something we didn't do last time round was to really enjoy it, so over the next few days I'm going to make sure I really enjoy this, get everything out of it.

"We will start again next year. We have a lot of fellas with a lot of drive in our team. We are lucky to have that. Next season will look after itself; we'll enjoy this for what it is."

Leamy confirmed the squad had - prior to the match and at the behest of the three concerned - studiously avoided becoming overly sentimental at the impending departures of Declan Kidney, Jim Williams and Anthony Foley.

"It was spoken about among the players a little bit but there wasn't a big deal made of it. You know the individuals involved; they were never going to make a big deal. It's great to win it for them, great to have that trophy there.

"It definitely was in the background. We knew Deccie (Declan Kidney) was leaving, we knew Axel (Anthony Foley), John Kelly, Jim Williams, genuine Munster legends, were going too.

"It was in the back of people's minds. We had a lot to play for, great fans, but we wanted to play for ourselves as much as anyone, wanted this for ourselves.

"To go out and do it and beat a great team like Toulouse is marvellous. No one can take this away from us. It was déjà vu, like rewinding the clock to 2006, Munster fans everywhere. They always give us a lift, drive us on. Really that is what the win is made up of, inches and small blades of grass.

"Towards the end of it I probably felt in better shape than I did in 2006. We were out on our feet then (2006). Aerobically there was a bit left in the tank (today) which is always a good thing to have.

"Experience told as we shut down the game; probably not great to watch but we ran down the clock well and held our discipline."