Danaher scored Irish's only try against Perpignan

London Irish back-row Declan Danaher believes the team's 20-9 Heineken Cup victory over Perpignan has established them among Europe's rugby union elite.

Danaher, who scored the Exiles' only try, told BBC Radio Berkshire: "We always believed we could win but a lot of people wrote us off.

"We proved to ourselves, and the fans, that we can play the best in Europe."

The 28-year-old added that the team are already focused on qualifying for next year's Heineken Cup via the league.

We still can't believe we're in the semi-final, it was possibly one of the best days for the boys Declan Danaher

"We need to qualify for the Heineken Cup next year and the only way we can sort of guarantee that is finishing in the top six in the Guinness Premiership," he said.

Danaher says Irish's league campaign is now the priority, despite the prospect of a Heineken Cup semi-final against Toulouse at Twickenham on the weekend of 26/27 April.

"We've got a game against Newcastle coming up this Sunday," he said.

"We're all back in training and we won't be thinking about the Toulouse game until probably the week before."

606: DEBATE This was the most complete performance I have ever seen by a London Irish side PGSGimson

Danaher's superb try, from a Mike Catt cross-kick, gave Irish a five-point lead just before half-time as they earned their first ever Heineken Cup semi-final appearance.

"We still can't believe we're in the semi-final," said Danaher.

"It was possibly one of the best days for the boys. Now we go to Twickenham and we're all really looking forward to it.

"There's a great spirit and hopefully we can we can go all the way now."