Rookie at centre for WP

Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has rolled the dice by selecting novice centre Damian de Allende to partner Juan de Jongh in the midfield for Saturday's Currie Cup final against the Sharks in Durban.

De Allende, a 1.89m, 97kg powerhouse, takes over from Marcel Brache in the only change to the team that beat the Golden Lions 21-16 in last week's semifinal at Ellis Park.

The dropping of Brache, who has been a regular throughout the campaign, at this late stage raised eyebrows, although Coetzee downplayed the significance of the switch. It's obvious De Allende's size is a significant contributor to his elevation after a strong showing off the bench at the weekend.

The WP under/21 star is also an unknown quantity, which could give WP a small surprise factor against the favourites at King's Park. And with wet weather predicted, De Allende's physical presence in the midfield channel will be a big factor.

"Marcel has had a heavy workload throughout the season and I believe that we will need his experience and skill off the bench for this match," Coetzee said.

"We've got to front up physically for the match and Damian is the right choice for this weekend.

"But he's not only a battering ram, he has good skills and explosive pace. He has it all and whenever he's played for us this season he's made a massive impression. Even last week off the bench he was superb.

"Even though he is young, he is good enough and I didn't battle to make the decision once we'd decided how we wanted to approach the game."

Coetzee dismissed any suggestion that injured skipper Jean de Villiers would play on Saturday.

WP are aiming to end an 11-year Currie Cup drought. The last time they won, when Corne Krige lifted the cup, six of their starting lineup - De Allende, hooker Scarra Ntubeni, props Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe and locks Eben Etzebeth and Wilhelm van der Sluys - weren't even 10 years old.

WP also go into the match as underdogs, a situation skipper Deon Fourie is comfortable with: "Not being favourites does take some of the pressure off us in terms of expectation from outside. But we still back ourselves and it's one game, one 80-minute effort, and history has shown that the underdog can win the game."

WP TEAM: Gio Aplon, Gerhard van den Heever, Juan de Jongh, Damian de Allende, Bryan Habana, Demetri Catrakilis, Nic Groom, Duane Vermeulen, Don Armand, Deon Fourie (capt), De Kock Steenkamp, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Scarra Ntubeni, Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: Deon Carstens, Brok Harris, Wilhelm van der Sluys, Jebb Sinclair, Louis Schreuder, Marcel Brache, Joe Pietersen.