Grace in defeat and a vow to return

They played all along with character and departed with character. They took the hardest route to the final and enriched us all along the way. At Twickenham on Saturday it was surely better to have been and lost than never to have been there at all. This Munster team, of all Irish teams, need feel no shame at all.

They encapsulated some of the finest virtues of Irish rugby and were adopted by the nation along the way. There's possibly never been an Irish support band of 40,000 abroad together and amongst the legions of red-shirted supporters milling around Richmond station and other parts of London on Saturday were accents from all across the country.

It would be fair to say that this remarkable Munster lot, with Declan Kidney articulately at the helm and extolling the abilities of Irish sportspeople (and by his own performance, that of Irish coaches), have done more to swell pride in Irish sport and certainly in Irish rugby. In that respect, defeat and the manner of it was almost an incidental.

When Kidney addressed the team from the middle of a huddle in the middle of the pitch after the full-time whistle, he told them that when you give something your best shot you can be proud of yourselves. Kidney added that they should keep their heads up, get on with their lives; it's not the end of the world and there's more to life than a game of rugby. "Our players gave everything that they had and you can't ask any more of them than that," said Kidney.

To paraphrase Boris Becker, nobody died. They took defeat with the same good grace they had taken the previous 14 victories in 15 games prior to the final this season. They took it on the chin and praised Northampton to the hilt.

"I can't say it was one of the lowest points, no," said Keith Wood. "We've had so many highs to get to this point so then to dismiss all that as a low, I couldn't do it. Personally I've had a year that I couldn't have expected when I came back. I've loved every single minute of it."

There were no recriminations, least of all toward Ronan O'Gara. "It's tough on `Roger'. Goalkicker is probably the loneliest place to be in the world," observed Wood of O'Gara's late penalty miss.

O'Gara himself voluntarily came out to face the press. There'd been a tear or two in his eyes, and he spoke in hushed, slow tones. "It's terrible and I don't really think we realise what's happened yet to be honest. It's terrible, we had our chance in the final and unfortunately we didn't take it. It's a long, long way back but there's great spirit there and I'm sure we'll be back again."

"It's been an incredible journey," said assistant coach Niall O'Donovan, one senses speaking for a good deal more than the backroom staff and the players. "It's disappointing today but the reaction of the crowd at the end summed it up really. They were all disappointed, like us, but thrilled like us to have got this far."

After it though, he confessed that a coach's words could only achieve so much. "People have to get over that themselves. It was a quiet dressing-room. The lads consoled themselves. They're an exceptional bunch of lads and they've fought through some tough situations to get here. We've been improving all the time and I don't think today was a step backwards. I don't think we were allowed play as well as we can play. That's the bottom line."

This was Wood's third defeat at England's headquarters and his nearby abode when he returns to Harlequins next season will be a haunting reminder of this day.

"I only have to walk around the corner to see this monument to despair and defeat from today so I can't wash this slate clean so quickly. I'll be wearing dark glasses for a while so I can't see it."

"I hate this place," said one of Munster's internationals, a common enough feeling amongst his team-mates. "Well then we'll just have to overcome that," ventured Brian O'Brien. And after exorcising the French nemesis, that's one of the next psychological hurdles on the Irish agenda.

Wood's final game, indefinitely, in Munster colours was a reminder that this Munster starting XV will never again take the pitch together. But both he and Anthony Foley - who's the likeliest inheritor of the spiritual leadership one day - emphasised the young strength in depth coming through the province.

They'll be stronger for the year they've had. Besides, no team comes back hungrier than the beaten finalists. They'll be back.