Trevor Brennan overcame injury and a sleepless night to help Toulouse clinch their first Heineken Cup final appearance since 1996 - and then recalled the moment when he feared his European dream had died.
Toulouse's Ireland international-in-residence starred as the French giants inflicted fresh Heineken Cup heartbreak on Munster.
But it was so desperately close, reaching a shuddering crescendo during 10 minutes of second-half injury time at Le Stadium de Toulouse when Munster points machine Ronan O'Gara twice went for glory.
On both occasions, O'Gara rifled long-range drop-goals agonisingly wide of the posts with Toulouse clinging on to their one-point lead.
It was gripping edge-of-the-seat drama - perhaps more than an often scrappy semi-final really deserved - and flanker Brennan personified the overwhelming relief that accompanied Toulouse's passage to Dublin on May 24th.
"The two drop-kicks were very close to going over," he said. "One was about a foot to the left of the post, and the other a foot to the right. I thought one went over, but when you could see the (Munster) fans behind the posts not putting their flags up, you knew that you were safe.
"We just then had to kick the ball as far we could down the pitch, and try and keep Munster away from our 22."
It was a red-letter day for Brennan, who found himself opposing many of his former international team-mates, and that he even took the field was an achievement in itself.
A thigh muscle injury suffered two weeks ago threatened Brennan's big-match hopes, so much so that he only participated in one training session during the build-up.
"I probably had the most sleepless night of my life on Friday night," he added. "I played the game through about four times in my mind - I dreamt Munster beat us and I dreamt we beat them - and on the day, either side could have won it."