Ranking European Cup final victories on style is to miss the essence of Munster. Toulouse can whinge all they like about their opponents setting out purely to negate them, but what else did they expect? Paul O'Connell sitting on the touchline making daisy chains? Two previous final defeats long ago taught the Irish province not to mess around on the big occasion and their forwards could not care less if their modus operandi won few admirers in the salons of the Midi-Pyrénées.
If this resulted in an ordinary game made special only by the 60,000 red-clad supporters who roared themselves hoarse even before the outstanding O'Connell and Ronan O'Gara hoisted the trophy aloft, Munster felt scant need to apologise. As in 2006 they identified the best way to beat fancied French opposition and sprang the familiar steel trap as effectively as ever. Up in the stands their departing coach Declan Kidney sat alone, overcome by emotion, for almost a minute after the final whistle. People who decry limited gameplans do not always appreciate the commitment required to prosecute them.
Munster's detractors also forget the reservoirs of desire created by their final loss to Northampton in 2000 and Neil Back's infamous back-hander which ensured victory for Leicester in 2002. The dam burst gloriously against Biarritz in this same stadium two years ago and Kidney's men are still tapping into that relentless source of motivational power. To dismiss them as passion killers because they failed to weave any pretty midfield patterns is to ignore that all the cleverest teams play to their strengths to some degree. "We had to do what we did today," argued Kidney, aware of Toulouse's preference for an open, sweeping contest over a street fight.
Even the Toulouse coach, Guy Noves, having publicly queried the appointment of the Welsh referee Nigel Owens to yet another crucial Munster tie - they won all five of the games he presided over including the quarter-final and semi-final - was forced to concede the gnarled dogs of war had grabbed his pack by the throat. It was no coincidence that, aside from blood replacement cameos from Mick O'Driscoll and Tony Buckley, the champions started and finished with the same 15 individuals. At the end of an achingly long season some Munster players were still managing personal bests in the gym this past fortnight. They backed themselves to be patient and to outlast the French and duly did both.
Toulouse's captain, Fabien Pelous, also did his best to help, getting himself unnecessarily yellow-carded and conceding two further penalties which resulted in three points for O'Gara. Referee Owens did not see Alan Quinlan stepping on Pelous's foot but he did see the soon-to-retire former France captain aim a petulant kick at the agent provocateur. "It's a real shame at my age to react like that," conceded the 34-year-old lock, whose loss of control was singled out by Noves as one of the game's two turning points.
The other came straight after Denis Leamy was deemed to have lost control of the ball as he lunged for the line in a period of rare Munster first-half pressure. Toulouse had a chance to clear the danger but Tomas O'Leary pounced on some indecision at the base of the scrum and regained scrum possession. This time Leamy could not be denied from close range and Munster were never headed again.
Their only wobble came when Cédric Heymans took a quick throw to himself some 65 metres from the Munster line and, with two sublime chips, scattered the cover defence. Yannick Jauzion toe-poked the ball ahead for Yannick Nyanga to score and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde's conversion tied the scores at 13-13 with Pelous still hunched in the sin-bin. Maybe he should have stayed there. Within three minutes of the big second-row rejoining the fray he conceded the decisive penalty for not rolling away, a kick made easier for O'Gara by a backchatting Jauzion. O'Gara did not have his best day in open play but his nerve has never been in doubt. It would have been more comfortable had a forward pass by Rua Tipoki not caused a second-half try for Doug Howlett to be disallowed.
At some stage the game's authorities will have to do something about the cynical exploitation of the game clock, with an increasing number of teams sticking the ball up their jumpers and grinding out the last few minutes. Finding more referees who can speak French would also be an improvement; while Mr Owens showed few signs of favouritism, Toulouse had good reason to feel misunderstood. For the men of Munster who flopped at the World Cup, however, this success tasted every bit as sweet as two years ago.
Munster Hurley; Howlett, Tipoki, Mafi, Dowling; O'Gara, O'Leary; Horan, Flannery, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell (capt), Quinlan, Wallace, Leamy.
Try Leamy. Con O'Gara. Pens O'Gara 3.
Toulouse Heymans; Medard, Kunavore, Jauzion, Donguy (Ahotaeiloa, 72); Elissalde, Kelleher; Human, Servat, Perugini (Poux, 56), Pelous (capt), Albacete (Millo-Chluski, 62), Bouilhou (Lamboley, 62), Dusautoir (Nyanga, 39), Sowerby.
Try Nyanga. Con Elissalde. Pen Elissalde. Drop-goal Elissalde.
Sin-bin Pelous, 51.
Referee N Owens (Wales). Attendance 74,417.
