He's the fourth choice flyhalf but Queensland Reds rookie Dallan Murphy said he has been hanging around the squad long enough to know what's required of him.
The unavailability of injured Reds trio Quade Cooper, Ben Lucas and Mike Harris has given Murphy his first Super Rugby start when the Reds take on the Bulls in Pretoria on Sunday morning.
Murphy, 23, has just one previous Super Rugby appearance, coming off the bench for the Reds against the Chiefs in round 18 last year.
The Brisbane rugby product has been in the Reds wider training squad since 2010, a year after captaining Brothers to the Brisbane premiership.
"Its unfortunate the team has so many injuries but it is a great to get an opportunity,'' Marphy said from Pretoria.
"I'm used to training with these guys so knowing the players like the back of your hand makes the job a lot easier.''
Coach Ewen McKenzie said he considered other options at flyhalf including starting established players out of position.
"Dallan has been in our system for a long time and we have every confidence in his ability to get the job done," McKenzie said.
"We've played around with our options at flyhalf this year but Dallan is a natural number 10 so I'm looking forward to seeing what he can offer.''
Murphy is a confident attacking flyhalf and will be encourage to do what comes naturally.
"Ewen has kept his advice pretty simple," Murphy said.
"He has told me to play my own game and back my ability."
In other changes hooker Saia Faingaa will receive his first starting opportunity of 2012 as part of a revamped front-row which sees Greg Holmes shift to tighthead prop and Ben Daley promoted from the bench to loosehead.
Faingaa has played the past two matches off the bench while recovering from an ankle injury but has been impressed with the progress of the Reds forward pack.
"Last week (against the Sharks) we played one of our best games but we're growing as a team and we're building for bigger games,"
Luke Morahan comes in for suspended winger Digby Ioane on the wing. Ben Tapuai moves from outside to inside centre with Jono Lance handed the number 13 jersey.
Ioane will miss four matches while on suspension. His unavailability and the injuries to the playmakers does not seem to have ruffled coach McKenzie.
"The nature of rugby is that you have to adapt,'' McKenzie said.
"We look forward to seeing what the new generation of player can bring to the side.''
Queensland Reds side to play the Bulls:
Rod Davies, Dom Shipperley, Jono Lance, Ben Tapuai, Luke Morahan, Dallan Murphy, Will Genia, Jake Schatz, Beau Robinson, Scott Higginbotham, James Horwill (capt), Rob Simmons, Greg Holmes, Saia Faingaa, Ben Daley. Interchange: James Hanson, James Slipper, Radike Samo, Van Humphries, Liam Gill, Nick Frisby, Nathan Eyres-Brown.
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