And it stayed at just six when the Heineken Cup was returned to the Welford Road trophy cabinet back on 25 May, 2002.
Munster, who suffered Heineken Cup final heartbreak for the second time in three years, got to the showpiece occasion the hard way with quarter-finals and semi-finals victories on French soil against Stade Francais and Castres Olympique.

But it had required a wide-angled 58 metre penalty goal from Tim Stimson, not to mention the aid of both crossbar and upright, for Leicester to pip Llanelli in the last four, the Scarlets having already halted their tournament winning run at the 11-match mark in the Pool stages.

However, they were there again and, with not a spare seat in the Millennium Stadium, that record crowd - not to mention the millions of armchair viewers - witnessed tries from Geordan Murphy and Austin Healey clinch that historic second title in possibly the most gripping and absorbing final of the lot.