Connacht v Aironi: Teams
Connacht welcome back Denis Buckley to their front row for the RaboDirect PRO12 clash with bottom club Aironi.
Last Updated: 20/04/12 5:29pm
Connacht welcome back Denis Buckley to their front row for the RaboDirect PRO12 clash with bottom club Aironi.
Buckley replaces the injured Brett Wilkinson in the only change to the side that beat Ulster last time out.
"We're looking for a strong performance and to finish the season on a high," said head coach Eric Elwood.
"We've had some excellent results in recent weeks and we hope to build on that and finish on an up. It'll be a big day for the likes of Ray (Ofisa) and Henry (Fa'afili) playing in front of the home crowd for the last time so it would be great to give them the send-off they deserve and finish with a win."
Aironi head to Galway for their last-ever away match in the competition with just one change to their starting XV
Giovanbattista Venditti returns on the wing, with Sinoti Sinoti moving to outside centre in place of the benched Gilberto Pavan.
Also among the replacements, Paolo Buso returns from a long injury break.
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (c), 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Kyle Tonetti, 12 Henry Fa'afili, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Stewart Maguire, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Johnny O'Connor, 21 Paul O'Donohoe,. 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Eoin Griffin.
Aironi: 15 Tito Tebaldi, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Sinoti Sinoti, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tyson Keats, 8 Josh Sole, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Nicola Cattina; 5 Marco Bortolami (cap), 4 Quintin Geldenhuys; 3 Lorenzo Romano, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Nick Williams, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Gilberto Pavan, 23 Paolo Buso.