McGahan’s men narrowly lost 13-12 to Cardiff Blues on Sunday, but twelve points from the boot of man-of-the-match Ronan O’Gara proved enough for the reigning champions to finish in fourth place.

And with Leinster battling back from a 14-10 half-time deficit to secure a bonus-point 37-28 win against Edinburgh, the two provinces will now meet in a mouth-watering play-off semi-final.

While McGahan admitted to having mixed feelings following his side’s defeat that secured them a play-off berth, he vowed to put things right when they travel to the RDS on Saturday.

He said: “We are the defending champions and it was always our intention to get into the semi-finals. That was our first goal and ultimately we have achieved that, even though we’re disappointed to lose the game.

“The semi-final against Leinster is another one-off that’s a must-win. Both sides came up short last week in Europe so we will both be aiming to make sure we reach this final.

“The players showed great courage to back up after last week’s result. Losing a semi-final in the Heineken Cup took a lot out of everyone.

“There’s always a great priority placed on Europe and there was a lot emotion in the week after the semi-final loss. So to dig out a result that sent us into the semi-finals of the Magners was tremendous.”