Fiji's Kele Leawere knows it will take a lot of effort to cling on to their cup dream. Photo / Reuters
It's the quarter-final between the shortest-priced favourite and the tournament long shot for a semifinal place.
And yet Fiji are determined to leave their mark on South Africa at Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Monday morning.
They have already done that with a thrilling victory over Wales to
further emphasise the north-south divide of the game, but are determined to go one more Neil Armstrong-sized leap.
The only previous clash between the two countries was a 43-18 win for the Springboks in Pretoria 11 years ago. The only Fijian in the current squad who played that day is Nicky Little, the key backline organiser, and he's out with a leg injury.
But South Africa hold no fears for the Pacific Island men. Reputations, world rankings, cup favouritism?
Bah, humbug.
"We don't care," said veteran lock and vice- captain Kele Leawere, who has bagged three tries in the tournament. "We can go in and smash the hell out of them. This is our chance and we might as well take it."
But it will need more than fighting talk from the big man to push aside a Springbok side who have had a solid cup so far, a big fright from Tonga notwithstanding.
Coach Jake White is confident he has the armoury, and the idea of playing Fiji, then perhaps Argentina for a place in the final has him in a buoyant mood.
"When I look at my team, I've got the most experienced loosehead prop in South African rugby history [Os du Randt], the most experienced captain in our history [John Smit], the most experienced fullback [Percy Montgomery], probably the best lock pairing in world rugby [Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha] and a No 9 like Fourie du Preez, who is rated round the world as one of the best," he said.
"It's not about one player, it's about how they all come together. If you have five or six players who would make a world XV, that's what makes a special team."
Fiji know they'll struggle at the scrums, and must make every bit of ball count. They will put bumps on the South Africans defensively - but that won't be enough.
They are the last survivors from the Pacific Islands trio that began this campaign. "When we came here no one believed we would be in the quarter-finals. They thought we were a bunch of amateurs," senior back Seremaia Bai said.
"We set our goals to reach the quarter-finals. This is a dream come true.
"And now we reset them."
