The night before Munster's home match against Toulouse, the entire squad, with officials, rolled into the Belltable Arts Centre in Limerick. It was not Declan Kidney's idea of being frivolous on the night of a big mach.

He, along with many in the Munster camp, had already heard about Alone It Stands, the John Breen play based around the events of 1978 when Munster defied rugby logic and defeated the touring All Black side in Thomond Park. Anecdotally we know that at least one million Limerick supporters were in the ground that day and even more outside; far more, in fact, than those who went to see the Pope on his celtic tour of 1979 and the Rolling Stones concert in Slane.

Breen, himself a modest Garryowen player, may never have butted heads or bored into the likes of Keith Wood or Peter Clohessy in the front row, but sensing something magical about the win and it's affect on the Limerick people, he woke up one morning and a door opened. The play he wrote has been running and running ever since.

"Oh God, yes I've followed this year's progress and watched all of the matches," says Breen. "They have been stunning and have generated a marvellous athmosphere. A few times we were prepared to be disappointed, waiting for the hammer to come down. But the morale in the camp has been very impressive. There is great spirit."

But the similarities between the games of 20 years apart are tenuous enough, even if the most recent achievement is also soaring.

"I think it is unfair to compare the two directly because they are two different things and apart in time. It is now a different game with different rules and the players are professional," he says.

"I think the passion is a very important aspect of it. They said that Tom Kiernan was well ahead of his time in the way he prepared the side against the All Blacks. He saw that the game is won in players' hearts and heads as much as it is on the pitch.

"I think Declan Kidney has also won that battle. A lot of credit goes to him. The current team are so cohesive. They have that tremendous belief in each other. When they came into the play it was great to have them. There were about 40 of them, the whole squad arrived. We've a few guys in the play who felt they were quite tall but, standing beside these guys, they felt like five-stone weaklings."

While Alone It Stands deals with events surrounding the 1978 match, much of it is humorous. It is not a play about rugby but people who play rugby, and people whose lives dovetailed in some way with Munster's win. The players laughed, according to Breen, but there were also a few moments where they recognised the realities of highly competitive sport, things they face in every match.

"In the play there is a scene where the All Blacks are dissing the Munster players . . . you know, Tony Ward and others . . . and I could see the tension in the players' faces. There are nuances in the play that they recognised. The play is relevant to their lives. There are scenes of team talks, the importance of tackling, players' fears before the game . . . I reckon they were able to relate to it."

It was the 98th performance of the play and the squad's presence in the theatre instilled an almost reverential response from the actors. After countless performances they were suddenly confronted with the real thing.

"There was the real feeling of . . . `we're not worthy'," says Breen. "I could tell that they were very, very nervous even though they'd been through the play countless times. Here was Keith Wood, Mick Galwey and `The Claw' in the audience.

"But it's more than rugby," he says. "It is the manner of their victories. In many ways it has been a triumph of the will and people are responding to that, they are reacting to the players."

`Alone It Stands' will go to the Edinburgh Festival and is also returning to Dublin for a limited run in Andrews lane from Lane from June 12th.