Toulouse v Munster:European Cup semi-finals: The bottom line? The better team won. No real grievances, no real anger; at least not in or around le Stade de Toulouse.
Aeroport Toulouse-Blagnac was a different matter, mind. The long trek home for the Red Army was just as chaotic but even more downright dangerous than those experienced in Lille and Cardiff.
ERC are going to have to factor supporter traffic into the equation for choosing "neutral" venues for big occasions. If they're not equipped to cope, then they shouldn't get the games. Simple as that. Delays of several hours were one thing - the team charter eventually took off at 1.25 a.m. local time, as opposed to the scheduled 9.30 p.m., arriving in at 2.20 a.m. in Cork - dangerously compressed queues which led to at least one supporter collapsing quite another.
Not that it could detract from the occasion. Outside the ground, hours beforehand, amid the food stalls, the Toulouse fans were already generating quite a tempo. The naming of each player upped the decibel levels and words couldn't describe the sense of anticipation in the minutes leading up to the kick-off. Seasoned internationals in the press box just nodded and smiled. This was special. Amid a sea of red and black, rhythmic chants of "Tou-lou-sain" mingled with The Fields of Athenry.
By the end of the first quarter, as Ronan O'Gara had steered Munster into a 6-0 lead, the visiting hordes even had the temerity to break into "Allez Les Rouges". Anywhere else they'd have ruled the airwaves, but not in Toulouse's home from home.
During the apex of Toulouse's second-half ascendancy, as they attacked, the drumbeats and chanting reverberated like cracks of thunder around the amphitheatre, the crescendo reaching one peak for their decisive try and another for the final whistle.
There hadn't been a hint of a yellow card, or even a flag raised by either linesman, and as with the respective supporters, even the teams' laps of honour mingled at one point. The reception afforded opposing teams was quite special, the Toulouse fans even breaking into chants of "Munster, Munster".
Typical of the day, the first to exchange shirts were Trevor Brennan and Alan Quinlan. For all the expectations, both were ultra-disciplined, Brennan augmenting his customary physical presence with impressive cool. Brennan sought out other former Irish team-mates for bear-hugs, and Alan Gaffney. Then, in front of the Munster hordes, he clutched the Munster badge on Quinlan's jersey to his heart and saluted them.
Brennan was sporting a massive shiner around his left eye, which obliged him to lift his head upwards so he could see out and had left Rob Henderson with a damaged ear drum after the latter had run into him early on, prompting Brennan to remark at the time: "Jeez, Hendo, what did you hit me with, a baseball bat?" Encouraging his son Daniel to exclaim the match was "très bien", Brennan admitted: "I probably had the most sleepless night of my life last night. Played the game about four times. I dreamt myself and Quinny got sent-off. I dreamt they beat us, I dreamt we beat them. Just a mad kind of night and on the day it was one of those games which either side could have won. They were the better side in the first half. Typical Munster, never give up. I think we just had that bit of luck on the day.
"It was a very clean match, and there was no banter, just once or twice 'how's it going?' when there was a tackle made,and 'good hands Trev' when the boys (Foley and Williams) lifted me up and threw me back after I tried to take a ball off the side of a ruck. That sort of stuff."
The first player Brennan hugged was O'Gara, who admitted the two late drop goals attempts were into a stiff breeze and were well off the mark. "We gave it a good go. I don't think we lost this match, like other matches in the past when we were beaten. I thought everyone played to their potential, but some days that's not enough.
"Funnily enough, I was thinking during the week, what if it was like the Champions League and the knock-out stages were over two legs? I wouldn't mind going back to Thomond Park with a one-point deficit."
Guy Noves spoke of the occasion in reverential terms. "I'm amazed and delighted that rugby is supported by the people of Munster like it was today, that the nation of Munster travelled in such numbers. It reminds me of old Toulouse-Perpignan matches in the past - nations of people supporting their team. I would like to have 12,000 Toulouse supporters with us in the final like Munster had today," he said.
That said, ERC and sponsors would have been praying overnight that the final would not be Toulouse v Perpignan. In Dublin, that will be a hard sell.
Citing the impact of their bench, Noves said: "We started to use our kicking game and to put phases together, and that is when Munster tired."
Victory by one point, he did not mind at all. "That was an international Munster team we were up against. They should have won the Heineken Cup last year and with their support that will go anywhere they cause enormous problems, as they did today. I really believe we achieved something huge today by beating them."
As Noves left, Gaffney sought him out. Cheek to cheek they embraced with unbridled respect. Noves, who hadn't once broken into English, whispered "we beat a great team", and nodded emotionally.
