IT’S A MEASURE of how much things are changing at Connacht that when Jarrad Butler led the team out against Newcastle Falcons on Saturday in the Challenge Cup, only two of the players coming behind were in the squad when he arrived at the Sportsground in 2017.
But the 31-year old, who joined from the Brumbies, knows that if they are to make progress they need to widen the strength of the squad, and while they are all peeved at not playing in Europe’s premier competition, consolation is being sought by giving fringe players a chance to stake their claim.
It also means that frontline players, such as team captain Jack Carty and their five current Irish internationals, get a chance for a break and allow them to prepare for the crunch URC games coming up in the next month.
“Last season, the focus was on playing the best team and it made a lot of sense at the time but it makes you hard if you’re on the fringe and playing well, training your ass off to try and put yourself to be in a position to be available,” said Butler, who has now chalked up 103 Connacht appearances.
“You’re always waiting for something to happen, an injury or something like that, it is rough. But this season, we have this little bit more rotation so it keeps everyone keen and motivated so you see they are an important part of the group. We need everyone to be on top of their stuff and ready to play good footie.
“We’re getting more out of the whole group and today was testament to that, playing good footie. So when things come up later on in the season, they’re ready and we’re not throwing them into the deep end.”
On Saturday, only full-back Tiernan O’Halloran and scrum-half Caolin Blade were in the squad when Butler arrived from Australia and from his continued leadership role he was thrilled to see some of the young local talent make a mark in the 22-8 win.
“It was awesome to see some of the new faces getting a run like, Cathal (Forde) starting. And Oisin (McCormack) coming off the bench. He played trial games and was very good so it was only a matter of time before he got a run. A couple of people might have been looking at the squad thinking that we weren’t taking this competition seriously. We do back the depth of the squad.
“We know from looking towards the end of the year that depth is going to be important. You have to give guys a run and it was fun to see them get their chance and put in a performance.”
Director of rugby Andy Friend, who is leaving Connacht at the end of the season, and head coach Pete Wilkins, who looks increasingly like he will take charge next summer, are set to continue to experiment in Brive on Friday evening.
The French side are in turmoil this season, rooted to the bottom of the Top 14 having dispensed with coach Jeremy Davidson earlier in the campaign and they were the only team to fail to score in the opening round of matches in the Challenge Cup when they were hammered 41-0 in Cardiff at the weekend.
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