Each team needed to progress through the group stage and two knockout rounds to reach the final, playing nine matches in total.

Chris White, representing the Rugby Football Union, was the referee for the match, which was played under a closed roof in front of 74,534 spectators.

In 2005–06, the participating teams were drawn from the English Premiership, the Irish/Scottish/Welsh Celtic League, the Italian Super 10 and the French Top 14 based on their domestic performance the previous season.

[9] Biarritz were drawn into Pool 4 with Italian club Benetton Treviso, English side Saracens and Ulster from Ireland.

[4] Their campaign started with a 22–10 loss away to Saracens at Vicarage Road on 23 October 2005,[10] but they responded with a bonus-point victory at home to Ulster at Parc des Sports Aguiléra six days later, winning 33–19 to go top of the pool.

[18] Munster were drawn in Pool 1 with French side Castres, Newport Gwent Dragons from Wales and English club Sale Sharks.

[19] A week later, Munster recorded a bonus-point 42–16 win at home to Castres at Thomond Park in Limerick to maintain their 21-match unbeaten run there in the Heineken Cup.

[20] Munster picked up another win in the first of their back-to-back games against the Dragons at Rodney Parade on 10 December, although they missed out on the try-scoring bonus point in the 24–8 victory.

[22] However, that was not a problem in the game against Castres at Stade Pierre-Antoine on 13 January 2006, when they scored seven tries, including two each for Paul O'Connell and Tomás O'Leary, to win 46–9.

Victory was practically assured by half-time, as Munster took a 24–9 lead through tries from Anthony Foley, Ian Dowling and Barry Murphy, but the second half looked to be scoreless until two minutes past the regulation 80, when David Wallace scored the fourth try they needed to overtake Sale and win both the game and the pool.

[24] As the fourth-seeded team from the pool stage, Munster were given a home draw in their quarter-final against Perpignan on 1 April, which was played at Lansdowne Road in Dublin due to the competition's neutral venue regulations.

Munster took the lead midway through the first half after O'Gara converted O'Connell's try, but Perpignan wing Matthieu Bourret converted his own try and added a penalty for the away side to give them a 10–7 half-time lead; however, four penalties from O'Gara in the space of 27-second-half minutes gave Munster a 19–10 win and put them into the semi-finals for the sixth time in seven seasons.

The Argentine was again on target in the 71st minute, but late tries from O'Gara and Trevor Halstead gave Munster a 30–6 victory and a place in their third Heineken Cup final.

[30] Munster captain Anthony Foley said his team had "no divine right" to win the final and they would treat it as a normal fixture with "a 50–50 chance" of victory.

"[33] Munster coach Declan Kidney commented the fixture had "all the makings of a great game" and his club's sole option was to pay attention to themselves: "It is a pretty daunting task coming up against a side like Biarritz, and you never really know how it is going to pan out – it is just a brilliant opportunity for everyone involved.

"[34] Fly-half Julien Peyrelongue said Biarritz were ready to win their first Heineken Cup: "The objective was to be at top form on May 20 and that's what we will achieve.

"[36] Biarritz coach Patrice Lagisquet stated his side's recent league victory over Montpellier better prepared them to play Munster: "The fight that is awaiting us in Cardiff will be extremely difficult.

"[35] Biarritz captain and hooker Benoît August was reported by citing commissioner John West for a purported eye-gouging on Danny Grewcock in the team's semi-final with Bath.

[37] The offence would have seen August banned anywhere between three months to two years but a disciplinary hearing deemed the complaint invalid since the citing commissioner and the match referee were not from separate countries as dictated by ERC tournament rules, clearing him for selection.

[34] Federico Pucciariello was placed on reserve if Horan was deemed unfit, while Rob Henderson would replace Kelly if the latter could not play.

[41] Thomas Lièvremont returned to play at number eight after missing Biarritz's semi-final with Bath due to injury,[41] replacing Thierry Dusautoir.

[7][42] Biarritz won possession at the start but August made a weak throw allowing David Wallace to win a line-out for Munster from which was cleared by O'Gara.

[42][47] On 17 minutes, Leamy found space to pass the ball to Halstead,[7] who went past Bidabé and Jean-Baptiste Gobelet to score a try for Munster from short distance in the right-hand corner.

[7] O'Gara got the second half underway, and two minutes later Munster were awarded a penalty after White observed Biarritz not releasing the ball following a second high throw by Stringer.

Stringer immediately kicked the ball directly into touch, allowing the referee to blow the final whistle and give Munster a 23–19 victory for their first Heineken Cup.

[53] Kindey said Munster losing in the Heineken Cup final twice before helped inspire them to win: "This bunch of guys have had tough experiences over the years but have tried to learn every time they have lost.

[48] Foley felt Munster's fans in the stadium motivated the club, adding: "I've been in a ground twice when the opposition's captain has lifted the trophy.

"[4] Yachvili emphasised the importance of scoring quickly but acknowledged Biarritz did not put enough pressure onto Munster and did not do not enough in attacking, saying: "We always thought we could win – we lost by only four points so it was not so far away.

[48][49] L'Équipe insisted Munster defeating Biarritz would have given the losing club no shame and singled out both fans as providing inspiration during the match: "When their players were in trouble, their red army burst into their hymn, The Fields of Athenry.

The French club, who tried everything and pulled out all the stops, at the end of the match eventually lost the final at the hands of Munster, who were clearly fitter and more experienced than the Basques.