By now the European Rugby Cup had caught the imagination of the public. Munster had reached the final in 2000 losing to Northampton at Twickenham in front of 65,000 spectators and qualified for the play-off stages year-on-year. This together with the introduction of the Celtic League and the policy of the IRFU to curtail the number of games played by the top players meant that player resources were stretched at club level.

Nevertheless, Constitution continued to compete to the highest standard and contested the play-off stages of the All Ireland League on a regular basis without achieving the ultimate success. Finals against Dungannon and Shannon (twice) were lost. It was therefore with great pleasure that captain Frank Cogan lifted the inaugural All Ireland Cup in 2006 following the 37-12 defeat of St Mary’s College at Lansdowne Road.

The club had revised its committee system and installed a management committee to carry out the operational work of the club, reporting to the executive committee chaired by the President. Greg Barrett filled the role of chairman with Walton Morrissey as director of rugby. Floodlights were installed on the main pitch at Temple Hill in 2002 to allow for scheduling of top class games around the demands of the professional game. The kitchen facility was revamped with modern catering systems installed.

Munster Junior Cup success was achieved under the captaincies of Brian O’Leary and Dave O’Brien in 2003 & 2005. But Constitution contrived to lose the 2006 final to Cobh Pirates despite leading for much of the game. The IRFU ran J1 & J2 national competitions in conjunction with the Millennium celebrations and Constitution were successful at Junior 1 in 2000 and Junior 2 in 2001.

Ronan O’Gara, Frank Sheahan and Donncha O’Callaghan were in the Ireland party for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, where Ireland lost to Australia in the quarter final. Ronan O’Gara was selected for the Lions to Australia in 2001 and again to New Zealand in 2005. Donnncha O’Callaghan joined him in New Zealand in 2005 playing in two tests. Donal Lenihan was the Lions manager in Australia and Constitution clubman Pat O’Keeffe was baggage master for the team.

Munster lost a second European Rugby Cup final to Leicester at Cardiff in 2002, before success finally came in May 2006 when Munster defeated Biarritz 23-19 at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. They had beaten Leinster in a marvellous semi final at Lansdowne Road and in a stadium packed with Munster supporters scored an emotional win. Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara starred at half back. John Kelly and Anthony Horgan were on the wings, with Donncha O’Callaghan at second-row. Frank Sheahan missed the campaign due to an early season injury, but Denis Fogarty was on the bench as sub hooker.

Ireland were riding high having won the Triple Crown in 2006 and had an unbeaten Autumn series to be ranked fifth on the IRB standings going into the Six Nations series in 2007.

Jerry Murray was a popular Munster Branch President in 2000-01, while Bertie Smith retired from active refereeing in 2004 following a successful International career.

Officers	Competitions
Season President Captain 2000-01 G.J Barrett U.O'Callaghan 2001-02 T.J Lynch "" 2002-03 J.N. Walsh I. Murray 2003-04 W.F. Dowling J.J. Murray 2004-05 B. Wain C. Mahony 2005-06 M. Daly F. Cogan 2006-07 M.C. Murphy ""   Season President Munster Branch 2000-01 J.E. Murray	All Ireland League Div. 1 Runners up 2000-01 Runners up 2001-02 Runners up 2003-04   All Ireland Cup 2005-06   Cork Charity Cup 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06