Whatever happens across the next week, Ireland's U20 players know they have 160 minutes of rugby in which their World Cup will be defined.
Win or lose in Sunday's semi-final against South Africa (3.30pm kickoff Irish time), Richie Murphy's side will be back in action next Friday, meeting one of France or England. It could be a World Cup final. It could be a third or fourth place playoff.
In a week in which the camp was hit by tragedy, rugby has been put into perspective, but it's also been a distraction.
As well as being the father of Jack in the Ireland U20 squad, Greig Oliver was also a coach to several others in the group back at Munster, and his death on Monday after a shocking paragliding accident has rocked Irish rugby.
Murphy spoke of his thanks to the South African rugby union yesterday, after they arranged for a grief counsellor to come into the squad earlier this week. Having stayed with the squad for a couple of days after the accident, Jack Oliver returned to Ireland with his mother Fiona on Thursday.
And while Murphy says it's been a difficult week for his side, he says rugby has been a welcome release for his group of 19 and 20-year-olds.
"We're obviously checking in on guys on a regular basis but I suppose they've probably found comfort in the regular week," he said.
"So after getting through Tuesday and Wednesday, yesterday and today have been...I wouldn't say business as usual, but there are things that are at regular intervals that guys have to turn up for and have to concentrate on, they have to put their best foot forward and we've seen that over the last two days prep.
"Our session today [Friday] was affected by rain but in relation to the commitment and guys trying to get themselves into the team, and the competition side has grown within the 30 players to get into the 23 jerseys, was really good. That's where we've been."
It's seven years since the first and last time Ireland have reached a final at the junior World Cup, with James Ryan, Andrew Porter and Jacob Stockdale among the stars of the 2016 vintage that made it all the way to the decider that season.
It's just over a year since Ireland were beaten in a competitive game at U20 level, losing to this weekend's opponents France in the U20 Summer Series in Italy last year.
With back to back Six Nations Grand Slams behind them though, this Irish U20 side appear determined to surpass the 2016 crop and become Ireland's first ever world champions at the underage grade.
"Focused, I'd say. There's definitely an air of excitement but I would say focused," he added.
"They're looking forward to that challenge of South Africa and very much focusing in on the areas that we have to get right in relation to putting our best performance out.
"If we can do that we know we're going to be very close.
"The consistency of our approach to producing the team, to getting our team performance, won't change very much in relation to this game.
"It stuck with us all the way through the season, it worked pretty well last year, so we'll be focusing in on our roles, on our jobs, and we talked about getting ourselves into this position last October so that now that we're now we just have to be true to ourselves and play the game that we know we can play.
"So really concentrating on being the best version of our team that we can be because that's what is most important, I know that's what Jack at home and Greig would have wanted."
Follow a live blog of South Africa v Ireland on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app from 3pm on Sunday
