Butler happy with gametime

Editor

Brumbies flanker Jarrad Butler says he is relieved to have got his season underway after making his first appearance of 2017 in the 43-10 win over the Reds.

After a fairly even first half, where the sides went into the break at 10-10, the floodgates opened thereafter, with the Brumbies scoring 33 unanswered points in the second half.

Butler had an impressive game after coming as an replacement for the injured Jordan Smiler towards the end of the first half, notching up a try for his efforts.

It was the 29-year-old’s 50th appearance for the Canberra outfit and was some much needed gametime for the robust forward who had found himself of late on the fringes of the starting XV.

“It was a massive relief,” Butler told the Brumbies website.

“The last couple of weeks have been really frustrating, trying to get myself right and then crack into the team. The back row in particular has been good with those new guys coming in so to be back in the team again was a lot of fun.

“When you’ve got lots of depth like we do it’s tough, you just have to keep working hard in training. It’s not a bad thing that we have lots of pressure in the back row. It’s important for us and if it means we play better rugby than that’s fine by me.”

Butler has turned his eye to Saturday’s clash with the Melbourne Rebels, knowing full well that their opponents will be fighting for their Super Rugby future.

“The Rebels have been so good when they’re good. They’re such a tough team to play and have for the past couple of years so we know we have a massive task on our hands. They’re going to be firing and we’re going to go down there and give it our best.

“They’ll be motivated to win regardless but I’m sure they will want to prove some people wrong and play well. We’ll be aiming to do the same obviously,” added Butler.