THE Fiji Bitter Suva team is hoping for fine weather in the next few days as it prepares for this weekend's Farebrother-Sullivan Trophy challenge against holders Nadroga.
The rainy weather experienced in the capital in the past few weeks has not helped the Suva team as most grounds were closed, affecting the team's training.
Suva coach Salimoni Ravouvou was kept busy yesterday trying to find a ground available for training.
"The rain here in Suva has forced most ground owners to close their grounds and this is not helping us at all," Ravouvou said.
The team trained at Bidesi Park in Laucala yesterday.
But the poor condition in Suva is not going to dampen the spirits of the side as they go into this Saturday's game as the fourth challengers of the coveted silverware.
The team started its preparations three weeks ago wanting to better its performance against Nadroga after losing in the Digicel Cup semi-final 16-8 last month.
Nadroga, after successfully defending the Farebrother title for the third time last weekend, have showed they will be hard to beat on their home ground this season.
A powerful display of hard running rugby supplemented by a strong wall of defence has been a hallmark of Nadrogs's winning run.
Nadroga manager Paula Biu said they were looking forward to Suva's challenge and hoped for another good performance from the champions.
Biu said they respected the Suva side which had a lot of experience and they would treat them just like another top team in the country.
"For us the win over Nadi is history and we will now concentrate and focus only on the game with Fiji Bitter Suva," Biu said after the win over Nadi last Saturday.
Suva's challenge will be followed by Naitasiri and Lautoka.