The only time Western Province coach Allister Coetzee hedged his bets this week was when he was asked what the spread would be for Saturday's handicap game against the bottom of the log Valke at Newlands.
The issue isn't whether WP will win the game or even if they will score four tries - both are forgone conclusions - but simply whether the Cape side will massacre the boys from Brakpan with a good enough winning margin to match, or eclipse, the 83-14 scoreline the Lions put past them last Friday.
Coetzee diplomatically sidestepped the issue of defining exactly what the objective would be at Newlands - whether a 50, 60 or 70 point margin of victory will be mission accomplished.
Splitting hairs? Not if Province are serious about putting their best feet forward in closing the gap on the log in the chase to topple fourth placed Lions from a semi-final berth.
Brakpan last Friday was a significant victory for the Lions, because not only did they sustain their nine-point advantage over WP, they also extended the points for and against differential to a handy 105 points over their Cape rivals.
In essence, with four games left to play in the Currie Cup, WP are in a similar chase to that of Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen in last year's F1 championship, when any chance of beating Lewis Hamilton to the title looked hopeless at the same juncture.
The only similarity to rugby and WP's current predicament is in attitude, and that the Finn never gave up the chase.
But if the Lions are going to slip up somewhere, Province don't want to draw level on log points, only to be knocked out of contention with an inferior points differential.
And that's why, against a Valke side that will be without star flyhalf Len Olivier - who has signed for the Sharks next season, fullback Johan Jackson and centre Rouan Cloete, all injured, Province have to be ruthless tomorrow.
No matter how hard Coetzee and WP captain Jean de Villiers strive to avoid belittling tomorrow's opponents, this is a Valke team that has been beaten 59-19 by Griquas, lost 31-29 and 48-42 to Boland, 50-7 to the Bulls, 55-14 to the Cheetahs and 28-10 to the Sharks this season.
Even though they humiliated Province 38-32 in Brakpan in July, the Valke, at Newlands, on a soft, lush turf with green grass and white lines, against a side with all of their star Springboks back, don't belong on the same field.
Coetzee, nevertheless, was at pains to emphasise that his players would still have to "be up for it" tomorrow.
"To run out on reputation and not be mentally ready for any game is a big mistake. It still hurts that we lost the first round game (in Brakpan) and now it's important that we play better every single week," said Coetzee.
And Province have opted for a potentially lethal centre combination by moving Fijian flyer Sireli Naqelevuki from the wing to partner Bok star Jean de Villiers in the middle of the park.
De Villiers said this week that he is excited about playing alongside Naqelevuki and said that launching him at the opposition with, in Mike Tyson parlance, 'bad intentions', was the objective.
"We're trying a guy like Sireli at outside centre knowing that he can be effective there," he said. "He runs good lines and that's what you need from a centre, so hopefully I can create that at 12 and he can run off me."
"There's no doubting the talent and just look at the size of the two... where do you get a centre combination as big as these two players?"Coetzee mused this week. "We can't say for definite it's gonna come off, but it has exciting potential and we're looking forward to seeing how he partners with Jean."
Western Province: Conrad Jantjes, Tonderai Chavhanga, Sireli Naqelevuki, Jean de Villiers (capt), Wylie Human, Peter Grant, Ricky Januarie, Luke Watson, Francois Louw, Schalk Burger, Andries Bekker, Adriaan Fondse, Brian Mujati, Schalk Brits, Wicus Blaauw. Reserves: Deon Fourie, JC Kritzinger, AJ Venter, Nic Koster, Bolla Conradie, Joe Pietersen, Morgan Newman.
Valke: Nicky Kritzinger; Dewald Pretorius, Ernie Kruger, Showan Smith, Luvo Sogidashe; Hanno Coetzee (capt), Poerie van Rooyen; Sean Plaatjies, Marius Coetzer, Warren Perkins, Wouter Moore, Ruhan van Jaarsveld, Dirk Smit, Jody Jeneker, Gavin Whittingham. Reserves: Rayno Barnes, Frik Venter, Reg Perkins, Emile Verster, Gerrie Odendaal, Jeff Perkins, AN Other.
Referee: Christie du Preez. Kick-off: 3pm.