BOP farewell key players

Bay of Plenty will say farewell to popular captain Wayne Ormond when they face bottom-placed Northland in Tauranga tomorrow.

Ormond, who will play his 65th game for the Bay, is off to Japan. He is part of a four-man exodus from the Bay.

Fullback Adrian Cashmore is heading for Welsh club Neath-Swansea Ospreys on Monday; veteran loose forward/lock Paul Tupai is going to the United Kingdom and halfback Kevin Senio has transferred to Canterbury.

The Bay have a slew of injured players, including wing David Johnston, first five-eighths Murray Williams and lock Bernie Upton.

Northland await the result of fitness tests on fullback Daniel Bowden (hamstring) and flanker Allen Tubbs (ribs), but both are expected to be fit. An unchanged XV has been named, having pushed Southland hard in Whangarei last Sunday in search of their first NPC win since 2002.