Current holders of the INKK Farebrother Sullivan Trophy Naitasiri will face Namosi in the first round of the Skipper Provincial Cup at the Naluwai Ground on March 19.
Since Naitasiri is hosting Namosi, they will also be defending the INKK Farebrother Trophy.
Local 15s rugby will return after a lapse of more than 10 months and as seen in the past, controlling crowd could be an issue at a venue like the Naluwai Ground.
However, FRU chief executive officer John O’Connor says all possible steps are being taken to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
“We are working with all the stakeholders and the police because there are still strict guidelines, COVID-19 protocols that we need to follow and we will be working closer with the police and military to ensure that we control the crowd,” O’Connor said.
He added only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into the grounds and those inside will have to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 protocols.
“Only the people who are vaccinated can go into the ground. But we know there’s a lot of excitement out there.
“The vanua will come in numbers to support their teams.”
O’Connor adds the provincial teams have started their off-season training and are now playing trial matches against each other.
“The provincial teams are leaving no stone unturned in their preparation and are raring to go in the first round of the Skipper Cup since there has been no rugby for the last 10 months,” said O’Connor.
He also highlighted that the Fiji Rugby operations team will ensure compliance to the new COVID-19 guidelines at all the venues once the tournament kicks off in three weeks’ time.
Fixtures: R1: Nadroga-Tailevu, Northland-Rewa, Suva-Nadi, Naitasiri-Namosi
R2: Namosi-Rewa, Nadi-Northland, Naitasiri-Nadroga, Suva-Tailevu
R3: Naitasiri-Suva, Nadroga-Nadi, Northland- Namosi, Rewa-Tailevu
R4: Namosi-Nadi, Suva-Northland, Rewa-Nadroga, Tailevu-Naitasiri
R5: Naitasiri-Rewa, Nadroga-Northland, Namosi-Suva, Nadi-Tailevu
