Just four players remain

Time waits for no man — not first-class rugby players anyway.

Just three seasons since it last hosted a semifinal, Otago has only four players who started that game taking the field in its run-on team tonight.

In 2013, the Otago side finished second in the Championship division of the domestic competition and hosted a semifinal against Hawke’s Bay.

From that side which just lost to the Magpies, only Matt Faddes, Paul Grant, Tom Franklin and Craig Millar will back up tonight in the semifinal against Bay of Plenty.

The likes of Tony Ensor and Lee Allan are still in the Otago squad but are injured, while others such as Jayden Spence and Tom Donnelly left to pursue opportunities overseas.

Meanwhile, Otago will have to combat All Black Sam Cane tonight, after the All Black flanker was named on the bench for Bay of Plenty.

Cane, if he gets on, will play his first game since he injured his hamstring in the test against Argentina in Hamilton on September 10.

He played one game for Bay of Plenty last season and, all up, has played just 18 games for the union.

He has played 37 tests for the All Blacks and more than 80 games for the Chiefs.

His inclusion will undoubtedly give Bay of Plenty a boost.

Bay of Plenty only just squeezed into the playoffs, scoring two bonus-point victories in its final two games to grab fourth spot ahead of Manawatu.

Bay of Plenty actually only won three games in the regular season but 11 bonus points got it into the playoffs. 

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