Jamie Heaslip was speaking at the announcement of a new partnership between the IRFU and Vodafone on Monday afternoon and with the Guinness Pro 12 final so fresh in the memory, it was inevitable that he would be asked for his views on Connacht's historic win.
Listen to Heaslip on today's episode of the Racket today.
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After the unveiling of the new Ireland rugby jersey, Heaslip sat down for a chat with Balls.ie streamed live on Facebook, and he discussed the room-mate situation on tour as well as the aftermath of the final loss on Saturday.
Before that, Heaslip was quizzed by the journalists present in the Aviva on his feelings after the match and his relationship with the Connacht players that played against him. After explaining that he had visited the Connacht dressing room to congratulate the Irish guys he knew from the national squad, he also revealed that a very tired Ultan Dillane had updated him on the celebrations on Monday morning.
Heaslip described a scene of bonfires and crowds late into the night, something that took him by surprise.
He showed me one or two of the videos of the support they had, and that was... I have never seen anything like that.
He was telling me, they landed at like 2.30am in Knock airport, and there was about three thousand people there. Then he said there were bonfires the whole way in to Galway along the road, and then they got in there at about 3.00am into Galway, and he says there was thousands of people, just packed.
Then the next day, he was showing a video of them going through Galway and there were thousands there too, and the stadium was packed. So I suppose in terms of getting more people engaged, it's fantastic, and just in terms of for their club, I thought it was brilliant from them.
And just for a glimpse of what Jamie saw, here is a slightly crazy clip of a late-night rendition of The Fields Of Athenry:
SEE ALSO: GALLERY: Holy Hell, The Turnout For The Connacht Homecoming Is Absolutely Staggering
A fantastic night for those involved, but credit also to Heaslip for his comments with the loss so fresh in the memory.
Real credit, however, must go to Ultan Dillane for getting himself up to Dublin to help out with the launch of the new jersey on a Monday afternoon. The real MVP.
FULL TIME! Here is your brand new @IrishRugby and Vodafone jersey made by @canterburyNZ #TeamOfUs pic.twitter.com/accm5J899I
— Vodafone Ireland (@VodafoneIreland) May 30, 2016
