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Cardiff - Excitement is building in rugby-mad Wales ahead of Saturday's World Cup semi-final against France, with the tantalising prospect of a first global final in sight.
The flags are still stored away for now, but a steady stream of fans have already beaten a path to the Millennium Stadium in the Welsh capital of Cardiff to snap up free tickets to watch the game live on the ground's giant screens.
Up to 60 000 fans are expected to throng the stadium - the "temple" of Welsh rugby - to follow every kick and pass of the action from New Zealand, despite the 09:00 local kick-off time. The beer will be flowing too.
One supporter, 19-year-old Aled Evans, can hardly wait. "Rugby is a religion in Wales. That's why it's such a big event. Everybody is talking about it."
Huw Davies, a 39-year-old lawyer who describes himself as "a long-suffering Wales fan", is hopeful.
"We're a rugby-obsessed nation. It's really reaching a peak, a real crescendo now, the excitement, before the game on Saturday," he said.
Welsh fans have had a long wait for international success.
They reached the semi-finals of the inaugural 1987 World Cup, only to be crushed 49-6 by eventual winners New Zealand, and two Six Nations Grand Slams in 2005 and 2008.
But there has been little to match the exploits of the great teams of the 1970s, full of legends such as Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett and JPR Williams.
"They would have won the World Cup. They were fantastic," said Graeme Goode, 75, a retired electrician, after touching the leg of a statue of Edwards in Cardiff in the hope it will bring the current team luck.
A new generation of Welsh stars have dazzled in this World Cup and overwhelmed an experienced Ireland team in the quarter-finals.
But can Sam Warburton, Mike Phillips, George North, Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Priestland reach the levels of that dominant team of three decades ago?
"I remember my grandfather telling me about the matches of the seventies and how wonderful they were, said Clair Powell, 34, a civil servant who has got up at dawn with her three children to watch Wales' matches from New Zealand.
"For my generation, this is the biggest match," she said of Saturday's showdown against the French, who defeated England in their quarter-final.
There is pride too that this Wales team has a genuinely Welsh identity.
"They're speaking Welsh. An awful lot of this team, they are fluent Welsh speakers. Look at them singing! Alun-Wyn Jones, the tears coming up to his eyes," said Richard Preedy, 55, a school teacher, referring to the second-row forward.
If there is one regret among the fans in Cardiff, it is they have been deprived of a chance to beat England, the old enemy who are already back home after a disastrous tournament.
"The English would have been much easier to beat than the French," said Sarah Callard, with a satisfied smile.
