The Wallaroos aren't shying away from the idea that Sunday's (AEST) match with the USA will be an early knockout stage game in York.
The Australians' fate in advancing to the World Cup isn't directly tied with the fixture, unlike the Eagles after their opening round defeat to England.
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Ultimately, though, they understand the contest shapes as their best opportunity to secure their place, with next week's clash against powerhouse England looming as their toughest to date under coach Jo Yapp.
"This week is all about the win. If it's not pretty, that's okay, but it's about getting the win this week and we know that," Yapp said.
"I think it's still a statement. I think game by game, every game is a statement when you're playing at a World Cup," captain Emily Chancellor added.
This was addressed early in the week, with leader and second-rower Michaela Leonard believing it delivered the necessary clarity to put in their best performance.
" I think all of the girls know how important it is, but I think 'Chance' reiterated it really well before training today. She made that point of it is do or die," the lock said.
It's a must-win; it's really important for us coming into the tail end of our pool rounds. But at the same breath, she said, it doesn't put any pressure on. We just need to go out there, do our job, and do it to the best of our ability, and the rest will follow.
"We've got another shot next week and we're planning to win that one too. So, yeah, it's been a little bit of a focus, but not the main thing."
Chancellor and Leonard are familiar with this situation, with the squad finding themselves in a similar spot at the 2022 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand after their opening round defeat to the Black Ferns.
In that instant, the Wallaroos survived a red card in each game late to defeat Wales and Scotland to secure their place in the quarter-finals.
"It's a very different group this time and a different experience, but every World Cup you know that there's going to be a point in the pool where you've got to perform to make sure you secure that spot and if we can do that game two instead of game three, that's a really great place for us," Chancellor explained.
"I do take confidence knowing that we were able to perform in those gritty moments against Scotland and Wales last World Cup, but it's a very different competition...you can't sit on the past, we've got to focus on the present and the team we've got here right now.
"We're ready to do it and we take confidence from the last couple of games we've played, the way we've worked ourselves out of a disappointing game against Wales in game one and then rectifying and having a really clear game plan and being able to be better game drivers in those positions as well on the field to know that as a group of leaders on field we have a lot of confidence in each other and the decisions that we're going to make when times get tough."
