You might have missed them - until they stood up. Almost lost among the 4,000 pilgrims who packed out Pope John Paul II's weekly audience in the Paul VI hall in the Vatican yesterday, the Irish rugby squad became suddenly and impressively visible as their presence was announced.

Needless to say, this was an historic first for the IRFU which had never previously been received in a papal audience. Not, mind you, that they had the limelight to themselves, since they joined schoolchildren, teachers and assorted pilgrims from Brussels, Copenhagen, Santiago de Chile, Detroit, Minneapolis, Arlington and Warsaw, as well as a group of religious and lay people working with Vietnamese exiles.

Throughout the traditionally multi-lingual audience, the Irish players sat in respectful silence near the front row, looking the essence of sobriety in their dark team blazers. At the end of the audience, they took their place in the queue, behind the sick and the disabled and after the newly-weds, before being presented to the Pope up on the hall stage, where they also posed for a group photograph.

Often on these occasions, sportsmen present the Pope with a team shirt. Yesterday, however, the IRFU chose to offer a tasteful piece of Waterford crystal, complete with IRFU logo.

Speaking after the audience, IRFU president Eddie Coleman summed up the significance of the day for Irish rugby: "This was a great privilege for us. We came out here early, specifically to be at this audience. We would probably have travelled out a day later, but this was a marvellous opportunity, one we couldn't possibly miss.

"This was simply an incredible experience and the guys are just thrilled to bits with it, they're absolutely gobsmacked. The Pope was very interested in us, asked us where we came from and wished us good luck in the game."

Captain Keith Wood said: "I had never been to a papal audience before, even though I did see the Pope in 1979 when I crawled through the mud in Limerick, but that's a long, long way away. It's a great experience and a great privilege for us."

As the Irish team mingled in St Peter's Square alongside their team bus, second row Jeremy Davidson, a Protestant, put the perfect seal on an ecumenical morning: "That was wonderful. We were very, very lucky to meet the Pope and I can tell you a lot of people here are very happy."

Perhaps the only anxious moment had come when the team's presence was announced during the audience. Traditionally, the pilgrims just announced stand up and sing a hymn or psalm for the Pope. Indeed, yesterday five different choirs and a large group of especially enthusiastic Polish pilgrims honoured that tradition. Fortunately, when it came to their turn, the Irish rugby men remained soberly tightlipped.

Despite his customary slow progress as he walks to centre-stage, John Paul II was looking good yesterday, as fledgling Vaticanologist, Wood, pointed out with one of the understatements of the pontificate: "He's pretty sharp, too, isn't he?"