Title glory twice as nice, says Leamy

THE LIGHTS dimmed in the closed Millennium Stadium, darkness closed in, and in the background, a low throbbing drumbeat replicated perfectly the pounding Munster hearts in the final 15 minutes of what had been an absorbing contest.

Then, one by one, in an impressive presentation ceremony, the Munster forward eight came slowly into the lights concentrated on the pitch-centre dais; Horan, Flannery, Hayes, O’Callaghan, Quinlan, Wallace, Leamy and finally, generously and selflessly sharing the honour of accepting the glistening trophy with Ronan O’Gara — the man who taken over his captain’s duties while he was out injured — Paul O’Connell. It was good to see their faces, bruised and bloodied though they were, but smiling now

“It’s fantastic,” said Denis Leamy. “It’s what we’ve talked about over the last two years; we’ve talked and talked about it, we want to become among Europe’s elite. It’s great to back that up, it’s great to have the trophy coming back to Munster.