LEINSTER'S Heineken European Cup campaign ended in triumphant fashion at Murrayfield – the same arena where it had begun seven months earlier.
The difference this time was that the Dubliners were forced to work all the way for a 19-16 final victory over Leicester Tigers compared with when Edinburgh served up early tries on a plate before the visitors went on to win an opening pool tie 27-
16.
And, yet, while one of those sides who met last October was to go all the way, events on Saturday were to serve as a reminder that the gap between eventual winners and sectional pool drop-outs is not that great, with many parallels between the sides.
Here, remarks by Leinster captain Leo Cullen served to strike a chord as he referred to how the Celtic cousins had to come from some way back at the start of the pro era and, to an extent, were still catching up.
"The support has been phenomenal and it has grown" he said. "As a team we are just trying to build our performances and give the supporters something they are proud to be associated with.
"That's what we are trying to do as a team. Supporters have bought into that and really got behind the team. The numbers have grown steadily over the last few years as shown by the number of season tickets sold. It's getting that diehard support which is so essential for an organisation to grow.
"Leinster, as a provincial team, is still largely new compared to the club structure in England but it has grown at a phenomenal rate and the interest in the game has grown massively."
The point is that anything Leinster have been able to do, Edinburgh, with its rugby infrastructure, should be able to do as well. The haunting thought throughout the final was what might have been if Capital coach Andy Robinson had had the wherewithal to follow through on initial signing talks with Euro man of the match Rocky Elsom, who eventually decided his future on leaving Australia lay across the Irish Sea.
Equally beguiling were the references to the fact that the Celtic teams have an extra card to play in terms of a restricted fixture list compared with rivals elsewhere. Cullen admitted: "Irish teams do have a slight advantage in that they play fewer games than English and French teams."
Such a factor may well have been the tie-breaker in an enthrallingly intense and stamina-sapping final and it was typical of a thoroughly sporting occasion that such thoughts should be put on record.
Indeed, almost from the start there was a feel-good factor around making the uncommitted proud that rugby is their chosen sport.
Take the monstrously long drop goal from the halfway line with which Jonny Sexton restored the Leinster lead.
No ostentatious celebrations from the youngster, merely a shy smile and a half-raised arm as he retreated back into position.
Similarly, the predominately Irish crowd were respectful at all times to goal-kickers while affording a generous ovation to Leicester full-back Geordan Murphy, admittedly one of their own, when he retired hurt just after half-time.
To sum up the entire spirit, though, consider the admonition Nigel Owens delivered to Elsom, and picked up through the innovative Ref-Link broadcast: "Cut out the bad language – there are children watching at home!"
If all that wasn't enough to justify the "friendly final" label, vanquished coach Richard Cockerill entered into the spirit by being gracious in defeat.
"We gave everything and should be very pleased and proud," said Cockerill. "It could have gone either way but Leinster have to take the credit.
"If you accept winning you have to accept losing as well.
"I'm not a great loser but you have to be dignified.
"We weren't as accurate as we would have liked. Our line-out fell apart at times, we had chances and they came back at us because they are a good side.
"We could have lost last week (English Final] and we could have lost in the semi-final (beat Cardiff on goal-kicks]. We've had our bit of luck and maybe our luck ran out. Maybe we didn't quite have the breaks we'd have liked. Maybe we didn't deserve the breaks because we didn't earn them.
"We came up short – not by much but it's all about small margins in big games."
And so the respective armies of visiting fans, including those who had camped overnight on the historic Edinburgh Accies ground which had hosted the first-ever international, departed to reflect on what was a glorious occasion, starting with Brian O'Driscoll's sixth-minute drop goal for Leinster answered by a Julien Dupuy penalty.
Sexton's memorable drop came on 17 minutes, followed by a penalty and what possibly stopped Leinster imposing total authority was a sin-binning for Stan Wright, who took a man out without the ball.
Dupuy accepted penalty points and then converted Ben Woods' try before a further goal-kick just after the break made it 16-9 by the time Wright returned.
To their immense credit, Leinster roused themselves with a close-range try from Jamie Heaslip, who crossed just as he did in Ireland's 22-15 win over Scotland in Edinburgh this season. It was converted by Sexton who, after an earlier miss, slotted the winning penalty with ten minutes remaining.
That proved sufficient to put a new name on the trophy in collective terms. Individually, there were 11 of the winners in the starting line-up when Edinburgh were seen off by a relatively close margin at the start of the competition.
That meant the vast majority of the 66,000 crowd went home happy and, as for the Tigers fans, they took it on the chin manfully.
Has Edinburgh ever hosted a better sporting day out?
Scorers:
Leicester: Try: Woods; Conversion: Dupuy; Penalties: Dupuy (3). Leinster: Try: Heaslip; Conversion: Sexton; Penalties: Sexton (2); Drop goals: O'Driscoll, Sexton.
Leicester: G Murphy (M Smith 46), S Hamilton, A Erinle, D Hipkiss, A Tuilagi, S Vesty, J Dupuy (H Ellis 75), M Ayerza, G Chuter (B Kayser), M Castroviovanni (White 52), T Croft, B Kay, C Newby, B Woods (L Moody), J Crane (L Deacon).
Leinster: I Nacewa, S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald, J Sexton, C Whitaker, C Healy, B Jackman (J Fogarty 55), S Wright, L Cullen, M O'Kelly, R Elsom, S Jennings, J Heaslip.
