SUVA will need to play passionate rugby and with sheer guts if it wants to successfully wrest the Farebrother-Sullivan trophy away from Nadroga on Saturday.
Those were the words of former Nadroga scrumhalf Epi Satavu as the Stallions prepare for their fourth defence of the coveted trophy at Lawaqa Park this weekend. Suva failed to prevail on Nadroga's Holy Grail in their previous outings. The last time the two teams battled each other was during the Digicel Cup semi-final where the Stallions galloped away victors.
Satavu said Suva had all it took for a rugby team to be equipped for a match.
"I believe they have a good bunch of players, fitness, skills and knowledge of the modern game but the only difference is that they need to play with pride and guts in order to beat Nadroga," he said.
"Suva will need to be confident until the final whistle. If they want to win and they will need to lift their performance to a much higher level compared to Nadroga," said Satavu.
He said the combination within the Nadroga team helped them successfully defend the prestigious silverware 17 times in the past two seasons.
Satavu said Nadroga had the depth of players.
Coach Esala Nauga has been changing his line-up every week.
"The Nadroga players have been playing together the past two seasons and they know each other really well. The combination is there, that is a plus to them compared to the challenging teams.
"If Suva comes, plays with guts andhas the right player combination then I believe they can match Nadroga," he said.
However, the former Flying Fijian believes Nadroga will retain the trophy once more on Saturday because of the depth he has.