Smit: Tough is good

South Africa captain John Smit believes the Springboks will be better off for the difficult pool they were cast into at the 2011 World Cup draw.

The Springboks were drawn in arguably the toughest group of all alongside Wales and Fiji as well as qualifiers from Oceania and Africa.

Smit said that the group reminded him of the Springboks' draw for last year's World Cup when they were ultimately crowned champions.

"Last time we were drawn against the top team from Britain - which was then England - and this time we have been drawn against Wales who are the Six Nations champions," he said.

"We also played two teams from the Pacific Islands and this time we have Fiji and an Oceania qualifier, which is very likely to be Samoa."

"The draw has a similar feel to last time and the good thing is that we will be well tested during the competition."

"You don't want to breeze through your pool and we certainly won't have that luxury."

Should South Africa top its pool it will play the runners-up in Pool C, featuring Australia, Ireland and Italy and two qualifiers from Europe and the Americas.

Coach Peter de Villiers agreed that the pool presented some challenges, highlighting the potentially physical confrontations with Fiji and Samoa as matches to be wary of.

"It's a tough draw and it will be a very physical pool but I'm happy with the draw," he said.

"We'll be monitoring these nations progress over the coming months but we know what they are capable of when they are on song."

"Wales will only go from strength to strength and we know the Pacific Islands produce outstanding players - you only have to look back to last year's World Cup to know what a threat they can pose."