CONNACHT WILL HAVE to do without one of the stand-out performers of their season so far for the next six weeks after Jarrad Butler underwent surgery on his knee.
The openside, who represented Reds and Brumbies in Super Rugby, sustained the knee injury in Friday’s win over Munster and so is set to end his ever-present league record for the western province when they face the Cheetahs in Galway this Saturday.
The province say Butler will be out for ‘up to six weeks’, meaning will also likely miss the away trip to Cardiff and a home clash with Zebre before the Challenge Cup back-to-backs with Brive coincide with his scheduled return.
Also in the back row, James Connolly will see a specialist this week to assess the ankle injury picked up against Worcester.
In the second row, Andrew Browne will also go under the knife this week to correct an Achilles issue and is now expected to be sidelined until early next year. It had originally been hoped that the lock would feature in November.
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