A niggling hamstring injury has kept ACT Brumbies flanker Jarrad Butler sidelined in Super Rugby's opening rounds, and two tight losses have made for "tough" viewing.
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Butler has watched on from the stands as an injury time try broke the Brumbies' hearts against the Durban Sharks, a week after a four-point loss in Christchurch.
But for a side not expected to challenge too much this season, Butler says the Brumbies are beginning to prove the doubters wrong and are slowly piecing together an 80-minute performance.
The Brumbies play derbies against the Western Force and arch-rivals the NSW Waratahs over the next fortnight, and Butler hopes to be back for at least the second clash.
No wins from their first three games would put a serious dent in the Brumbies' finals chances, but Butler feels like the ACT are on the verge of a breakthrough victory.
"We're there or thereabouts as far as trying to put a whole 80 minutes together," Butler said.
"I think at the moment we're excited with how we've been going, but also frustrated that we can't get over the line and start getting some wins.
"It feels like it's something small, that last little couple per cent, that's really holding us back from finishing off teams."
While Butler hopes to be back out on the park and contributing "in the next week or two", his Brumbies teammate Scott Sio looks likely to miss Friday night's clash with the Force with a hamstring injury.
The ACT's depth was on show against Shute Shield powerhouse Sydney University as flyhalf Jordan Jackson-Hope orchestrated a 53-24 thumping for the Brumbies Runners at Viking Park on Sunday.
Jackson-Hope had a hand in four tries but it was winger Nigel Ah Wong that stole the show with four of his own.
Switching from inside centre to flyhalf gave Jackson-Hope a chance to hone his play making skills. But he laughed after limited preparation the game plan was simple — get it to Ah Wong.
"It was a bit of an unknown coming into it, we were pretty ill-prepared," Jackson-Hope said.
"We had 45 minutes on Friday night to prepare. But [there's] a lot of good footy players out there and I think that's what it came down to, just playing what's in front of us and the boys did really well."
Meanwhile, a last-ditch effort from the Brumbies under-20s fell short as they dropped their game against the Melbourne Rebels 17-14.
