South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald on Saturday said his side is under immense pressure to be the first host country to win the World Cup.

"We have got a very unforgiving sporting public and their expectations are very high," Donald said in an interview with the Weekend Argus newspaper.

"But playing in front of those South African crowds will be motivation in itself."

Donald said he had spoken to 1995 Rugby Union World Cup winning flyhalf Joel Stransky and now had a clearer idea of the sort of pressure the hosts would be under throughout the tournament that starts on February 9.

"Joel Stransky said that only when he ran onto the field did he realise the kind of pressure there is to win a World Cup in your own country."

"The Springboks accepted the burden of winning the World Cup on home soil. (And) that's the kind of pressure we too have got to just accept."

Now 35, Donald said he wanted to end his career with a World Cup winners medal, after missing out at the semi-final stage in 1992 and 1999.

"The ideal is to win the World Cup, everyone wants to win it and for me, it would be even more special."

"It's going to be fantastic," Donald said.

The tournament opens on February 8 and South Africa open their campaign with a game against the West Indies on February 9 at Cape Town.