RUGBY:THE 2006 DAY of days was for everybody: for the squad themselves, for those who wore the jersey before them, for every foot soldier in the Red Army, for every member of the Munster nation and for many more drawing succour and relief from it. This was too, but it was also more for the players themselves.

Two years ago the sense of desperation in the build-up to the final and the utter relief made for a more emotional occasion. Mass suicide had been the option in defeat. This was different, all the more so after what Paul O'Connell and others admitted had been a tough two years for most of them, be it the previous Heineken Cup, the World Cup or the Six Nations.

The astonishing resilience in completing this feat underlines the mental strength and sheer desire within the group. They had to swim in shark-infested waters to emerge first from the pool of death, then become the first team to win a quarter-final and semi-final away from home. And then finally they had to beat the best, Toulouse, to become the best.

Such is their total respect for Guy Noves and his European princes, if this had been a 16-13 win, however assured and deserved, over London Irish or anyone else it would not have brought the same sense of completion. As Heineken Cups go, they don't come any more satisfying. This reached every part.

So, while there may have been fewer tears at the final whistle, there was a profound sense of a job well done and a more lasting achievement that establishes Munster as a true European, nay global, superpower.

It's scary to start putting it into context really. Two-time Heineken Cup winners in three years. No team in the world could bring 60,000 or so to a single match abroad, not even an international one, not even the Lions.

They welcome the All Blacks to their 26,000-capacity Thomond Park in November as reigning European champions. In an Irish context, they are quite simply the best rugby team ever. End of the debate. And Declan Kidney to coach Ireland? How was there even a discussion?

An end-of-era feel to it there may have been, but as the retiring Shaun Payne - an integral part of this latest odyssey if not on the day - observed, it also felt like the continuation of something. What an ad for what Munster represent! Were you watching, Jerry Collins?

Once again, their 16th man gave them an almost unfair numerical and spiritual advantage, which Munster readily fed off. Once again, by hook or by crook, they had resourcefully obtained their tickets and by trains, planes or automobiles had invaded Cardiff. Come kick-off there were some 60,000 of them among the 74,417. It was as if the new Thomond Park had been unveiled in Cardiff.

The night before the game Jerry Flannery and Ian Dowling roomed together but kept jumping out of bed and pacing the floor.

"He'd get up," said Flannery. "Then I'd get up, and I'd say, 'The feeling is awesome, man. I just can't stop thinking about us winning the Cup.' Usually when you have these positive feelings it's good but I was afraid that I was focusing on the result rather than the process. But I couldn't see us losing."

On leaving the hotel on Saturday morning, maintaining one of his mantras to players and media alike, Declan Kidney told his players to enjoy the bus ride.

Paul O'Connell talked afterwards of how he could feel himself building up inside as their coach struggled to make progress through the red-thronged streets around the stadium and how the players so easily recognised friends and familiar faces.

And even the players, not exactly new to these experiences, could scarcely find words to describe the atmosphere that began, as usual, to build from the warm-up, the wall of sound that greeted their arrival and the at-times-deafening din thereafter.

"The more emotion and passion you can bring to the game the better," said O'Connell, "and they help us do that every time."

The closed roof and the darkened stadium may have made for striking television, but the over-the-top choreography and the equally unnatural sight of players slipping on the moist turf with temperatures of 20 degrees outside grated a little. Even so, the players and all in the camp struck the right notes, a case in point being O'Connell's insistence Ronan O'Gara lift the Cup - no doubt recognition of his own absence in the pool stages when the outhalf led the team so well.

O'Gara explained, "He said, 'I'm not taking no for an answer here.' I couldn't believe it. I'll never have a day to surpass this unless I captain Munster but as long as Paul's around I won't captain Munster because he's a better man. But that just sums him up, how touching and considerate he is. So I think we'll see a lot more of him leading teams."

That the players insisted all their non-playing team-mates and backroom staff clamber onto the podium was also fitting, for this is very much a squad effort with a bond between all in the camp that is probably peerless in the game. Thus, O'Gara in turn, had to drag a reluctant Kidney to the stage.

"Yes, of course, typical again, isn't it?" O'Gara said of his modest head coach. "There's going to be a little bit of turmoil with Axel (Anthony Foley) and Shaun, Jim (Williams) and Deccie going. But if ever there was a team to get it right, I hope it's our team because we all care so much about it."

Though he must have had tinges of regret at not being part of the match-day squad, Anthony Foley joined in the celebrations as if he'd played the full 80, for one of the key ingredients in the Munster desire for success is to savour these moments to their fullest. The more they're enjoyed, the more the desire to replicate them.

Not even a tortuous journey home via a chaotic Cardiff airport - as one female fan succinctly put it, "You wouldn't treat cattle like this" - could dampen their mood.

A thousand or so awaited their heroes on arrival in Shannon Airport beyond 1.30am, as thousands more were still marooned in Cardiff airport or stayed on at extortionate overnight rates.

Nothing better encapsulates what Munster are about than the way Doug Howlett, the All Blacks' record try scorer, has been consumed by this entire epic. Paul O'Connell railroaded him into leading a version of Stand up and Fight, before the Clarion Hotel laid on the first of several parties with customary efficiency at 3am.

Yesterday, an estimated 20,000 lined the streets for the open-top bus ride with the Cup from a reception with the Lord Mayor in Civic Hall to O'Connell St, Limerick.

The highlight of the day, was when RTÉ's Michael Corcoran invited Rua Tipoki, Lifeimi Mafi and Howlett to commemorate the occasion with an impromptu haka on the podium. Eyes and neck veins bulging, their rendition was foot and word perfect. The assembled thousands went ballistic.

The party will go on. Peter Clohessy's Sin Bin awaited them later. The Cup will visit all corners of the province. That way they never stop wanting to repeat the trick. They're some outfit.

Leamy proves, if at first you don't succeed, try and try again