FROM THE ARCHIVES February 1st 1999: GERRY THORNLEYreports on the reaction to Ulster's 21-6 triumph over Colomiers in the European Cup final at Lansdowne Road.
AS AN addendum, nay an afterthought, the Ulster players each received £2,000 for reaching the final of the European Cup, as well as their regulation £500 win bonus for their 21-6 triumph over Colomiers at Lansdowne Road on Saturday - Bath's players made £15,000 last season. Then again, no-one had dared to think of writing such fantasies into seasonal contracts, and besides, no amount of money in the world could buy this.
"That wasn't about money, that was about giving back something to Ulster and to Ireland," said hooker Allen Clarke after the historic victory.
Nor can the real worth of this victory be measured in pounds, shillings or pence. Michael Reid, the Ulster Branch's chief executive, was not even able, never mind willing, to put a precise figure on what the run had been worth financially to the branch; suffice to say it is a six-figure sum.
At a stroke, Saturday's win had at least doubled that tally, and the branch might conceivably be thinking in terms of a £400,000 windfall now.
"The spin-offs will hopefully be quite big now because, as you've seen out there, now people love Ulster rugby. I do believe very strongly there are two big benefits here. One is in pure financial terms - and, yes, the figures will be an awful lot bigger now than they were - but almost as important it has regenerated the game in Ulster."
As to where the cash will be invested? "We'll probably use it partially for game development and partially for general branch funds which are at a very low ebb. Last year the branch was effectively insolvent by £8,000. The remainder will be looked at to help strengthen our playing staff."
For someone who had been to the old ground 30 or 40 times, like all of us Reid had never known an atmosphere quite like it. In the pubs and streets of Dublin, the build-up to the game was unique, too, carnival like. An Ulster invasion certainly, and no one gave a fig. Ireland united behind Ulster; this day encapsulated how sport, uniquely so, can transcend politics.
It also reminded you what a partisan place the spiritual home of Irish rugby could be before the gin-and-tonic corporate set took over. Mind you, Ulster still seems to need an identifiable anthem; it was a pity that Spirit in the Skywasn't played over the tannoy à la the memorable semi-final win over Stade Français.
On a highly charged, emotional day, the players' tears had begun to flow when they were backslapped and roared through the lobby of the Berkeley Court hotel.
"For me that was the moment of the day," revealed the mighty Gary Longwell. "There were hundreds of Ulster fans, and from Limerick, Cork and all over Ireland. There were Gaelic players, everything; patting us on the back, screaming and singing. It was a special moment for all of us getting on the bus. It totally took my breath away."
The mood in the dressingroom before kick-off was subdued compared to previous big games in Ravenhill.
"In the other ones, we were so pumped up we were bursting to get out," said Humphreys." This one was more calm and composed because we consciously made a decision to walk around the pitch during the warm-up."
As it happened, they did so to the backdrop of one of sport's adopted anthems, We Are The Championsby Queen. Premature? Hardly. The offering over the tannoy was actually coincidental, while the idea of the walkabout, according to Humphreys, was to reduce the impact of the noise of the crowd on the players while ensuring the crowd were right behind them from early on.
"You could see the pride and the hope in people's faces, and to generate that as a rugby team, and as a player, was something special," said Clarke. "It was as much their day as it was our day."
"People won't remember whether we played brilliant, open rugby or not. It's about winning," said Simon Mason. Having hung on for dear life against Toulouse, twice, and Stade Français, it seemed those games would never end, whereas on Saturday Mason conceded: "When the final whistle blew, I thought there were still 15 to 20 minutes to go, and once that whistle went it was almost an antic-climax."
"I'd love to have played," said Mark McCall, his voice creaking and his eyes watering slightly. McCall was almost in tears before the game, and when a shattered Tony McWhirter came off after 75 minutes "we all started crying on the bench as well. It really was an amazing day. Unfortunately I dropped the Cup, which was the one bad moment on the day, but hopefully nobody noticed."
The corridor outside the dressingrooms was eerily quiet. The more sought-after interviewees - Mason, Humphreys and Longwell - were still filing back to them ages after the end of the match Others emerged dressed, in dribs and drabs. Once in a while a song started up from the showers. But nothing too showy, and all very private. These were their moments, and theirs alone.
"I think everybody feels a bit funny now that it's over," said McCall. "People are a bit lost and don't know what to do, talking dead fast and stuff. But I think when they reflect on it they'll realise it was one of the happiest days of their lives. The sea of red and white everywhere, it was fabulous."
"It's a strange feeling," said Clarke. "There's tears, and various emotions, and laughter. You're pinching yourself. To some degree it still hasn't sunk in. Absolutely surreal. After the semi-final it was total joy, because you were in Belfast.
"That's it for us now. That's our season for us. We knew ourselves that this was our last 80 minutes together and to a degree there's a lot of sadness. The 22 may never be together again."
So, all of a sudden, this incredible odyssey is over. But the memories will live for ever.
