Mark Butler revels in ‘special’ triumph

Mark Butler has now coached Rockwell College to three Munster Schools Cup victories. But he was also at the helm when they lost the same number of finals so he was well entitled to smile after yesterday’s victory over Ardscoil Rís at sunny Thomond Park.

“We have a lot of good players, which you need to win a cup, but, today, I thought some final nerves might have been kicking in and we made a lot of errors, especially in the opposition green zone,” he rationalised.

“Full credit to Ardscoil, they asked a lot of questions of us. When they moved the ball into the wider channels, I thought we looked a bit exposed. They didn’t reach the final without being a good side and they had a couple of injuries as well which obviously affected them and they showed at times what they are capable of.”