Aironi fly to Galway to face Connacht tomorrow at the Sportsground (Saturday, kick-off at 5 pm) for their last away match of the season. After playing a good game game against the Scarlets a week ago but collecting just a defensive bonus point, coming up short to lose 23-26.

Aironi might be facing an uncertain future in the RaboDirect PRO12 but head coach Rowland Phillips insists that whatever happens, the narrow loss to Scarlets shows just how far his side have come.

The decision to eject Aironi from the RaboDirect PRO12 on financial grounds took Quintin Geldenhuys by surprise but a week after the announcement it is a feeling of 'what might have been' that prevails.