He has played just 110 minutes of Super Rugby but Brumbies coach Dan McKellar has backed Ollie Sapsford to shine in Len Ikitau's place after the Wallaby failed to have his suspension overturned.
Ikitau was handed a three-match ban for his tackle on Aidan Morgan, clearing the way for the former Hawke's Bay product to start in his first Super Rugby match.
Sapsford made his return to Rugby as a teenager, having picked up AFL after moving to Australia following completing a building apprentice.
The former All Black Sevens player has impressed since returning to rugby union, with McKellar left with little doubt about throwing him into the biggest game of the season opposite All Black Rieko Ioane.
"There's no unknowns," McKellar told reporters. "He doesn't go into this game second-guessing himself, he's well aware of what his role is within the team.
"He performed well last week for the best part of an hour, I think he's well prepared and ready to perform.
"He's just got to do the basics well. He's got to run hard, make his tackles, provide a good voice on both sides of the ball and just do his job. We don't need him to be the best player on the field, I just need him to do his job."
McKellar admitted Ikitau was 'shattered' to miss the semi-final, with the Wallaby likely to next feature in the three-Test series against England starting on July 3.
"He was shattered," McKellar said.
"Really disappointed. He's never had a yellow card in his career, that includes his junior career, so to get a red card and then be ruled out of the two biggest games of the year is difficult for him to take.
"He's slept on it, he bounced in here this morning and he understands his role now is to help Ollie and the backs defensively, which is what he always does, and just help us prepare well."
The Brumbies received a major boost with flanker Rob Valetini cleared to return from a hamstring injury.
He slots into his favoured number eight position as Tom Hooper stays at blinside flanker, pushing Pete Samu to openside.
