The Springboks are first up for coach Michael Jones' team at Parc des Princes on Sunday.
And while group favourites South Africa should ultimately prevail after a probable bone-crunching confrontation between two physically immense sides, Jones wants his players to make a statement.
"The semi-finals are something we need to be seriously aiming for," said the former All Blacks flanker.
"We've done the quarter-final thing before, and we have got a lot of belief and a lot of faith. We are fast improvers.
"We've flourished during the last three weeks. It is the longest period of time we've ever been together, and three weeks together for a team like this is like gold.
"If we can play to our potential, anything is possible. We can do what the world sees as impossible.
"People might think we are a little bit crazy, but we don't want to aim too low. If we aim for the moon, at least we will end up in the stars."
Despite producing a proverbial conveyor belt of talent during the past 20 years, a lack of significant funding has stalled their progress, even though Samoa consistently punch above their weight in major tournaments.
And Jones added: "We are at a crossroads as a rugby union. The way the (rugby) world moved into professionalism, Samoa was left behind.
"The International Rugby Board has helped in setting up the HPU (high performance unit), but we won't see the fruits of that until next year.
"It's all good news for bridging the gap. Our challenge now is to go into a professional league - we see that as the greatest mechanism for development.
"Joining the Super 14 would require a lot of big calls being made.
"If you talk to people in the southern hemisphere, the Super 14 needs something new. There is something missing there.
"We believe it requires Pacific Island teams, whether as a collective or the two top teams. If Samoan rugby players had opportunities like that, you would see some amazing results."
