Joseph is thrown into prison where Jesus visits him and explains to him the mysteries of the blessed cup. After his release from prison Joseph legs it, travels west and founds a dynasty of secret grail keepers who jealously guard its existence. Its whereabouts is unknown but stories abound of its location being at any given period hidden in Valencia Cathedral or Caesarea Palaestina, Montserrat, Rosslyn Chapel and even the pyramid at the Louvre.

A body of the Knights Templar through hereditary bloodline protect the grail . . . most notable amongst these would have been members of King Arthur's Round Table . . . Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad and Sir Percival . . . protectors of the symbol of divine grace.

Wait until they get a load of what's coming to Cardiff to be the next Knights Templar . . . the Knights Temple Ville. Roundie Mooney from Ballynanty and Nudie 'Rashers' Bracken from Bruff are coming on a crusade to take the grail. I hope they find it in Cardiff . . . they've been looking this good while.

I'm not sure Munster will do it. It's quite easy to go with the flow and say yeah, this is their year, no matter what happens they are going to do it. Everything from the outside points to it, never bet against Munster they say. I haven't.

There will be a force du guerre presenting itself from the stands. Sixty maybe seventy thousand. Chris White, the referee, will play his part. Dicky Harris will be looking down from heaven (maybe not). The force will be with them. I'm sure they'll get every bounce.

They will be motivated to a fever pitch.

What can go wrong?

I have to admire the many qualities this Munster team have. All the A-Z virtues . . . obstinacy, killer instinct, neverending nous, street wisdom and the ability to turn a game in a thrice. They have incredible experience; most of this squad have been to a final and a few semis along the way. That experience has to pay off.

One of my first doubts is the final itself. In both previous visits to the final Munster never performed to the level that they did in the knockout stages. Both games were dog-fights and on both occasions they came second with a lot of Munster's big guns quiet on the day. Anxiety maybe. Anxiety is the first time, you can't do it a second time. Panic is the second time, you can't do it the first time. No need to panic just yet.

We are still back down to the reason Munster have never won the cup. It is because when they meet the really good sides in this competition and they are matched for intensity, they have difficulty in coping with it. In the last couple of years they have become replete in the art of out-scoring while maybe being pushed for field position and possession . . . it is an amazing statistic that over the years since, say, the Northampton final, every defeat has been by a minuscule margin.

Take the Toulouse and Wasps semifinals. In my view they were trumped on the pitch but only lost by one and five points. It shows an incredible facility to keep themselves in it on the scoreboard while being out of it on the paddock.

This season they have never really had to scrabble that hard . . . they got turned over by Sale . . . but I think they lose these matches on purpose to put themselves under pressure. They walloped Castres, the Dragons and Sale in the return. . . sleepwalking. The quarter and semi-finals told a different story.

They met a team with plenty of backbone but no ambition in Perpignan and met a team with plenty of ambition but broke backbone in Leinster.

Munster could easily have lost the quarter-final. They met a really pugnacious pack who put it up to them. I don't subscribe to the view that Munster could have easily accelerated up the gears if they got into trouble. Firstly, Munster always get points up early, stretch a lead and then play. They are a different side if they go points down.

They don't panic but they never play as well as they can if they're behind.

Their pack always does the work for them. That is why they have got to the final without much of a sweat . . . nobody has fronted up to them . . . except Perpignan who lacked the real ambition to take their chances.

The last time Munster had the shite knocked out of them . . . a rare thing . . . was in San Sebastian. Biarritz pummelled them. Munster came back in the second half but it was too late. The 19-10 score really flattered Munster. That was 10 months ago. Both teams have improved.

Biarritz didn't have to break a sweat to get through the knockout stages either.

Munster win games by suffocating people . . . they keep the ball for long periods of time . . . they never surrender it cheaply. They win games because their pack out-tough and out-scrap their opposite numbers. They haven't met one decent pack this season - nobody has tried to take them on at maul time, nobody has put them under pressure at the scrum. Most of their line-out ball seems to be won uncontested. That will stop next Saturday. Munster will get a serious examination on the 20th in the bear pit . . . if they stand up to it, they win the prize. If they don't, I don't know how they are going to win the game.

O'Gara has been in fine form . . . but if his pack are getting chewed how well will he cope with the pressure?

It seems that Marcus Horan will not play but Federico Pucciarello should recover from his thigh haematoma. Outside of those two, Munster have nothing.

So both props will be on the field for 80 minutes plus . . . there will be no hiding if they take a pummelling at scrum time.

If Paul O'Connell is knocked down by a bus and killed he will still start the game. The real battle though takes place in the back row. Munster's pre-eminence stems from their back row's ability, they control the breakdown, they close down space and dictate the pace of the game. They are masters at working the 10-second ruck for the opposition without getting pinged. Biarritz's back row is as good if not better . . . Imanol Harinordoquy, quite apart from being the best moving target up and down the line-out, is every bit as dynamic as David Wallace on the hoof. But having watched that trio on Setanta over the last four or five weeks (Lievremont was injured), they are equally devastating at the breakdown and defensively they have wolf-like capability. They hunt as a trio. Whether the newest star of French rugby, Thierry Dusautoir, starts or not, he will play a key role in the match because he is a devastating player.

The only real weakness in this Biarritz side is on the left wing. Sereli Bobo has the same turn-around capability as the Exxon Valdez . . . except the Exxon Valdez spilt less oil. There is no question he is poor to turn and even poorer with the punt return . . . Munster could have great field position all day. If I was Lagisquet I wouldn't pick him. I think the ball will be an instrument of chase rather than capture. This game will be low on scoring and a penalty fest . . .

maybe only one try in it which could decide the game.

Jacques Delmas is Biarritz's defence and forwards coach and is the de facto coach . . . he is every bit as cute and as clever as Declan Kidney. He knows that the only way to win this match is to take Munster on up front, something that nobody has done this season. Biarritz, to a man, are better than the opposite number out wide . . . it won't make a difference . . . the bear pit is where its at.

Balls on the line . . . Biarritz to claw their way past a subdued Munster.