Butler wants consistent 80 minutes

CONNACHT flanker Jarrad Butler says the team need to end the season on a high against Glasgow and Leinster.

Butler (26) has been a revelation for Connacht since he joined the province at the start of the season from Super Rugby side Brumbies, and he was handed the captaincy for the first time in last weekend’s loss to

Ospreys. And the New Zealand-born openside says he and his team-mates need to be a bit smarter and take their chances in the upcoming games.

“We needed to execute but Ospreys piled on the points and it’s definitely something we have to have a hard look at ahead of the last few weeks,” said Butler. “The last thing we want to do is pack it in now when we have two massive tests coming up. We want to be competitive there and get some results.”

Apart from the knee injury that robbed him of some game-time following the win over Munster in October, Butler (pictured) has been an automatic choice in the back-row this season for Connacht. He has played in 14 of the side’s 19 PRO14 games and will add to that tally in the final weeks.

And he insists that the squad can cause a couple of surprises against Glasgow and Leinster if they can produce a consistent display over 80 minutes.

“We’re not going to pack it in. A lot of guys are keen to still put our best foot forward and put together a full 80-minutes performance. Throughout the year we played good in patches and that’s not good enough.”