Brumbies give Butler the nod
Jarrad Butler will start at No.8 on his Brumbies debut – taking on his former teammates, the Reds, in their Super Rugby season opener this Saturday.
An age-grade player who represented Australia at schools and Under-20 levels, Butler earned 12 caps for the Reds between 2012 and 2013 – before moving south in December to take up a contract with the Brumbies.
From the side which contested the Super Rugby Final last August there are several changes – most notably captain Ben Mowen moving to blindside flank and the inclusion of Pat McCabe at inside centre.
The 2013 tight five of Scott Sio, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, Scott Fardy and Sam Carter remains intact, while David Pocock returns from injury at openside flank with Mowen and Butler filling out the back row.
Nic White has earned first crack at the No.9 jersey and will be matched in the halves by his Wallabies partner, Matt Toomua.
McCabe and Smith fill the centres, while Joe Tomane, Henry Speight (wings) and Jesse Mogg (fullback) make up the back three.
The bench is where the most changes have occurred, with South African imports Lionel Cronje (flyhalf) and Conrad Hoffmann (scrumhalf) joined by Lachlan McCaffrey (back row) – all in line to make their Brumbies debuts.
They are joined by regulars Siliva Siliva, Ruan Smith, Ruaidhri Murphy, Leon Power and Tevita Kuridrani.
Coach Stephen Larkham said it was important to get the season off to a solid start.
"It's important to start the season well," Larkham said, adding: "we aren't resting on results from last year we realise this is a totally new opportunity, but winning games first up is important for confidence and rhythm, that's why teams concentrate so hard on the first round.
"We did have a successful year last year, we know the formula that worked for us last year and we won't be going too far away from that this year, but in saying that we can certainly look at improving how we play out of our own half."
Brumbies: 15 Jesse Mogg, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Jarrad Butler, 7 David Pocock, 6 Ben Mowen (captain), 5 Sam Carter, 4 Scott Fardy, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Siliva Siliva, 17 Ruan Smith, 18 Ruaridh Murphy, 19 Leon Power, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Conrad Hoffman, 22 Lionel Cronjé, 23 Tevita Kuridrani.
Date: Saturday, February 22
Venue: Canberra Stadium, Canberra
Kick-off: 19.40 (08.40 GMT)
Referee: James Leckie (Australia)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Ian Smith (Australia)
TMO: Steve Leszczynski (Australia)
