IT WAS standing room only in former Irish international Peter Clohessy's pub the Sin Bin, where fans who couldn't secure prized tickets for Thomond Park gathered to watch the match last night.
The pub crowd shouted themselves into a frenzy in anticipation of an improbable victory and only fell silent when Joe Rokocoko scored the clinching try three minutes from the end, much to the relief of a small group of New Zealanders huddled in the corner.
All 26,000 tickets for last night's heartstopping encounter sold out months ago.
"It's the worst it's ever been," said one forlorn fan outside the ground. "Usually a few turn up for European games, but, tonight, not a hope."
But even the ticketless had their breath taken away by the game. "The best game of rugby ever," said Kiwi expatriate Dezza Gibson over from London for the match, but watching it in the Sin Bin. "We were lucky to win. The passion here is incredible."
The Munster fans in the pub clapped the team to an echo at the end. "I thought they'd last half an hour," said Munster fan Dan O'Brien. "We had a development player Ryan at number 3 and we still nearly beat the All-Blacks.
James Gallagher said: "Look at the way we played and the way Ireland played. We have the passion. Those boys were unbelievable."
Everybody concluded that the game was worthy of the occasion and of the convivial atmosphere around the city all day.
Limerick declared an unofficial holiday yesterday. The city knocked off early, the pubs started to fill up from early afternoon and everybody forgot their troubles for a while.
The people of the city had been preparing for the arrival of the fabled All-Blacks and the official opening of the new Thomond Park for months.
Many fans had come expecting an occasion rather than a match, with one hapless bookie having the All-Blacks at 33/1 on to win.
In well-known rugby pub Charlie St George's, Munster's most hardened fan, Johnny Brennan, said the occasion resembled a "Lion's tour" and he has been on four of them.
"You get these small provincial cities and the whole place shuts down in the afternoon and the streets are full of fans. Limerick is like that today. Every place is packed."
Mr Brennan, who had a Munster rugby museum in his house, has one of the three balls he says was used when Munster beat the All Blacks in 1978 - although like the relics of the true cross, there seems to be a multiple of such balls around. "As many as on a snooker table," said one local man.
Munster's heartbreaking 18-16 defeat means that the 1978 team who beat the All-Blacks 12-0 retain the unique cachet which has been theirs for the last 30 years.
They were honoured yesterday at Limerick City Hall. All but one of the 15 who took the field that day attended and were presented with crystal rugby balls to mark the anniversary.
Even in the midst of a very proud day for Limerick city, there were reminders of the terrible events of last week when Garryowen player Shane Geoghegan was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity.
A minute's silence was observed before the game and several of Mr Geoghegan's family attended the pre-match reception.