NOW for another question. Newport Gwent Dragons are out of contention for a place in next season’s Heineken Cup - aren’t they?

That was the scenario only a few weeks ago, but suddenly it’s not so certain.

From being down among the bottom two or three teams in the Magners League they have won their last two games while the Scarlets have lost theirs.

The Dragons have beaten Edinburgh at home and Aironi away while the Scarlets have lost against Connacht in Galway and then suffered a last second setback against Ulster.

That puts the Dragons 11 points behind their west Wales rivals with two games in hand, so while results would still have to go the way of the Dragons they must be breathing a little less easily down west right now.

The Dragons are on a roll having won four games in a row for the first time for two-and-a-half years and are chasing five for the first time since 2004.

Given that the opposition on Friday are Glasgow, who were thrashed by Connacht at the weekend (so were the Dragons at the Sportsground) and have now slipped to bottom but one in the table there must be a reasonable chance of the Dragons securing their third away league win of the season and their fourth in all.

Glasgow will also be without all their current Scottish players who will be involved in Sunday’s Six Nations game against Ireland.

The one problem for the Dragons is the ridiculous schedule which forced them to play in Italy on Sunday, travel back yesterday, have one training session, then fly to Scotland on Thursday for another away game on Friday.

Not very bright and certainly badly organised, but at least the spirit in the camp has rocketed now after a series of setbacks on and off the field.

And once the Dragons get their next game after that out the way, a daunting visit to Cork to take on league leaders Munster, five of their last seven fixtures are at home against Leinster, Treviso, Ulster, the Ospreys, Cardiff Blues. More nerve jangling down at Parc y Scarlets!

Not only that, but the Dragons are in the semi-finals of the LV Cup where they face Gloucester at Kingsholm on March 13.

It’s amazing really, but a season which seemed to be going nowhere and was fizzling out rapidly has suddenly become alive again.