Aironi are back to business

"Coaching in Magners League is pretty exciting for me - says head coach Franco Bernini - and I want to thank the club for this opportunity. It will be a very tough adventure, but we will face it with a group of Italian players, most of them young but already experienced. I think we should finish in the middle of the table - continues Bernini -. It's an important target".

Alongside the group of young players, Aironi have signed several big names like Bortolami, Ongaro or Perugini:

"I coached Totò (Salvatore Perugini) and other guys in the National Junior team - says Bernini -, I know the people they are and I know that they could be an example for all our young guys".

The coaching staff is completed by Andrea Moretti, former Italy prop with 13 caps, who will be the forward coach. The former Welsh international and Neath's coach Rowland Phillips will take charge of the defense, and Antonio Zanichelli and Andrew Scotney will coach the backs.

The new Italian franchise has been drawn in the Heineken Cup Pool 4 alongside Bath, Biarritz and Ulster.