Conor O'Shea says reaching and winning this year's Aviva Premiership final would rank as the club's finest achievement.

Harlequins needed to beat Bath Rugby in their final regulation season match to reach the top four and they sneaked it 19-16 in a match of searing intensity at The Stoop.

It sets up a mouth-watering semi-final at Saracens next Saturday and Quins' director of rugby is in no doubt about the significance.

“If we can do this over the next three weeks, it would be the greatest achievement this club has ever had and we cannot wait to get out and play Saracens next week,” said O'Shea.

“I'm ecstatic for the boys and incredibly proud of the belief in that group

“We talked about the challenge and I thought it was fraught. It was always going to be fraught in difficult, blustery conditions, but what an incredible belief there is.

“You don't win games by three points, two points, one point by accident. That's the belief within this group. We can play a lot better than that but we're in a semi-final. It's a one off.

“We'll be completely written off but we're pretty comfortable with that.

"You can write this team off but I know in that game there will be opportunities. Your rime will come and if you can be clinical and take your opportunities that come your way, anything can happen.”

O'Shea added: “Probably they [Saracens] don't want to play us the week before the Heineken Cup final, because we'll get stuck in.

“On form they're the best team in the country this year by a country mile, but it's an exciting challenge. Everybody had written us off five weeks ago when we played Saracens at Wembley.

“Everybody said that's not a team that would be in the top four – but we've beaten Bath here, Leicester here, we've beaten Exeter and London Irish and we've got ourselves in with a chance and that's all you want.

“They're an outstanding side but Lance Armstrong won seven Tours de France without winning every stage and hopefully we can go out and win a stage next week.”