Munster charged into the final with a 30-6 demolition of Leinster at Lansdowne Road, earning another crack at the Holy Grail that has eluded them for so long.

Having reached the knockout stages for eight successive seasons and tasted defeat in the final on two occasions, their European pedigree is second only to that of Toulouse.

A growing feeling exists that 2006 is the year Munster will finally march to European Cup glory - not least because Biarritz, their opponents at the Millennium Stadium, look vulnerable.

But OConnell has rubbished the idea, declaring hard work and not fate will determine who are hailed kings of Europe.

Its never your season and its no-ones destiny to win it. Instead you need a bit of luck and to be the best team in the competition, he said.

You must play for 80 minutes of every game. The final is a great opportunity for us but its not our destiny - the best team will win.

If we lose we come back next year, if we win we will come back next year and try to retain the title. Theres no destiny in these things - its about producing the goods.

Munster stunned Irish rugby with their emphatic demolition of Brian ODriscolls side and although they were worthy winners, the final scoreline was extremely flattering.

Injury-time tries from the sensational Ronan OGara and Trevor Halstead gave the result its lop-sided look and they only led 16-6 going into the final quarter when Leinster looked capable of staging a fightback.

The result is brilliant for us but you have to put it down as another game. Its bragging rights and thats all, said OConnell.

You didnt see any of us jumping around the field after the game because we know we will have to play Leinster next year when they are sore.

They were very gracious and thats the way it is. There is a good, healthy respect between the teams and that showed yesterday.

He added: It wasnt until Trevor scored that we knew we had won. We looked up at the clock and thought there could be more injury time.

You can never rest against guys like Brian ODriscoll and Gordon DArcy.