Twickenham could be transformed into a deluxe version of Thomond Park on May 27th, when the London venue is the terminus for the thus far unstoppable Munster rugby bandwagon.
After another epic performance in Bordeaux on Saturday, only Northampton now stand between the Irish provincial champions and the European Cup, and the expected exodus of supporters for the final is likely to make it the biggest event involving Munster and England since the Battle of Kinsale.
It was an Ulster-led team which lost in 1601, admittedly. But, having made them rank outsiders in Bordeaux, the bookmakers now give Munster at least a 50-50 chance of emulating the Northern province's win in last year's European Cup, when the English clubs did not take part.
Although Northampton will have theoretical home advantage for the final, Munster supporters should be able to get as many tickets as they want in the 72,000-seat stadium. "Within reason", according to the European Rugby Cup's tournament director, Roger Pickering, who added: "If Munster want 25,000, they'll get them. If they want 60,000, that might be a problem."
Almost 3,000 people and two clamped cars welcomed the team back to Shannon Airport on Saturday night, hours after their 3125 semi-final win over Stade Toulousain.
The cars, belonging to prop forward Peter Clohessy and the team's medical officer, Dr Michael Griffin, had been clamped by the airport police, meaning a £15 fine on top of normal parking charges. But even without clamping, the team's homeward journey was a slow one; they took almost an hour and a half to extricate themselves from well-wishers at the airport.
Team captain Mick Galwey said that the reception was "fantastic" and matched the effort of those who had travelled to Bordeaux: "They made enough noise to drown out the French and the team were grateful for the support."
Meanwhile, Northampton completed the final pairing yesterday with a thrilling 31-28 win over Llanelli. The English side fought back from a 19-9 half-time deficit and survived a late siege to set up a winning penalty kick deep in injury time.
Munster's progress in the tournament has earned a dividend of up to £500,000 for the IRFU - more than enough to pick up the bill for the airport parking fines.