Two great provincial rugby careers will draw to a close on Sunday when Bay of Plenty head to Invercargill for their ITM Cup match with Southland.

Much of the sting has been taken out of this clash, with Southland already relegated and without the Ranfurly Shield to defend, having lost it to Taranaki during the week.

It denied Steamers skipper Colin Bourke one last crack at the Log o’ Wood, having captured the trophy in his first game for the union in 2004, with the 26-year-old confirming he's soon to be heading offshore.

There’s a bit more symmetry for 35-year-old lock Luke Andrews, who will finish a 13-season, four-province first-class career at the end of the ITM Cup.  Andrews was born in Invercargill, studied in Dunedin and made his debut for Otago in 1999.  He had a great NPC campaign with Southland in 2001 before shifting to Wellington and playing more than 50 games for the Hurricanes.

Sunday’s game will be his 20th for Bay of Plenty, before he leaves to start a new job working for Port Taranaki.

Bourke, who started his career with Hawke’s Bay in 2003, hasn’t signed anything overseas yet and may still play another season of Super 15 but knows he won’t be back in blue and gold next season.

“There’s been a bit of emotion in the side this week, especially for me with my last game at Baypark the other night, but we’ve still got a shot at making the final so we don’t want to take any of the focus away from that,” Bourke said.

“Southland have a huge pack and there’s no doubt that’s where they’ll try and attack us from.”

Bay of Plenty will go into the clash without regular halfback Jamie Nutbrown, who injured a calf muscle against Canterbury.

Josh Hall takes his place at No 9, with former Otago B halfback Lewis Hancock set to make his debut from the bench.

The visitors have also lost wing Lelia Masaga to injury, with the former All Black flyer ending his streak of starting every game this season.  He’s been replaced by Ben Smith, with Lance MacDonald taking Smith’s place on the left wing.

Former Wallabies midfielder Steve Kefu has also pulled up lame, with Jason Hona replacing him at second-five.

Chris Noakes keeps his spot at first-five after scoring 25 points in the 35-31 win over Canterbury on Tuesday, while Dan Waenga has recovered from concussion and is back on the bench.

The Canterbury victory ended a streak of four straight losses for the Steamers and leave them with 26 points in the ITM Cup Premiership.

Bay of Plenty:
Bay of Plenty: 15 Toby Arnold, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Phil Burleigh, 12 Jason Hona, 11 Lance MacDonald, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Josh Hall, 8 Colin Bourke (capt), 7 Luke Braid, 6 Tanerau Latimer, 5 Culum Retallick, 4 Leon Power, 3 Josh Hohneck, 2 Dan Perrin, 1 Bronson Murray.
Reserves: John Pareanga, Tristan  Moran, Luke Andrews, Sam Cane, Lewis Hancock, Dan Waenga, Nick McCashin, Pingi Talaapitanga