The USA's shock win over the New Zealand All Blacks was no fluke and team captain Craig Hartley aims to prove that by turfing the South African Springboks out of the World Rugby Classic tonight.

The Americans provided perhaps the biggest upset the tournament has seen to date when they condemned the New Zealanders to the Plate with a 15-5 victory in Sunday's opening round.

Now they face the South Africans at the National Sports Centre for a place in the final and Hartley believes his side has more than a fighting chance.

“I think (Sunday's win) was very much earned,” said Hartley from the team's Elbow Beach base yesterday. “I know the All Blacks are a very good side and I am not going to take anything away from them. I think they were there to play and they hit us just as hard.

“I think we were just able to put together a very good game and stick to the gameplan and I think that really benefited us.”

Hartley said there were some terrific performances across the park, but singled out a couple of players for special praise.

“Our centres, Travis Williams and Chris Porter, both had very good games,” he said. “We were able to retain the ball and do the things we needed to.”

The Americans came out of the game with just one injury, that to wing Mike Skahan.

“Physically we are doing well,” Hartley said. “We had one player that had a mild concussion. He has stayed out of practices and the doctors have been watching him and he has shown no ill effect from that.”

The captain said the team had held a meeting cum training session yesterday morning to address the threat South Africa had to offer.

“We had a very, very good run through at practice. Despite the Dark n' Stormies things have gone quite well and we are in that game mindset right now,” he said.

Hartley said he did not believe the approach taken for the New Zealand game would serve them as well tonight and so a new plan of action had been drawn up.

“I think it's going to be a little bit different in that their backs seem to have some fairly good speed out there,” he said. “I know their loose forwards are a little bit younger and seem to be a little more athletic. I definitely think it's going to be more of a forwards oriented game.

“If we can stick to the gameplan again, not get ahead of ourselves, play a patient game I think things can go well again and we will be competitive.”

Hartley denied that the US team took the competition more seriously than most, saying they liked the social side as much as the next man. But he said the players felt it to be a great honour to run out in their country's colours.

“I know that for some of these guys this is an opportunity to represent the United States and it's something they take very seriously,” he said. “But we still come to have a wonderful time. The camaraderie with the other teams is very important for us. Some of our guys were out with the Kiwis (New Zealand) the other night after the match and that's the most important thing, that's what this is all about, but we don't overlook the importance of the rugby game itself.”

The US team have paid their own way over here and that may also be having a positive influence on the side.

“You can look at it two ways,” Hartley said. “If you are paying your own way you are going to come and make part of it a vacation, you going to enjoy your downtime which our guys are doing.

“But on the other side there is some need to perform well for yourself.”

Hartley and his team-mates also have one eye on another rugby competition which is going on at the same time as the Classic - the small matter of the Rugby World Cup in Australia.

The USA played their first game of the tournament in the early hours of this morning against Fiji and Hartley was keeping his fingers crossed for a good result.

“My best friend is the captain of the US team, Dave Hodges,” he said. “I was the best man at his wedding and I will be watching the game against Fiji very closely.

“They are much the same coming in as they were before. They are looking to get some wins and to be competitive. They are not going to say it outright, but I think to come away with a couple of upsets and really kind of shake things up would do wonders for our programme in the United States.”

Tonight's clash in Bermuda begins at 8.30 p.m. with the Plate semi-final between New Zealand and Iberia preceding it at 7 p.m.

Tomorrow's matches pit Argentina against Canada in the Plate and the reigning champions, the Barbarians, against France at 8.30 p.m.