Players from South African franchises will be sitting back watching the Super rugby semifinals this weekend without any real attachment for the first time in 12 years. The last time a South African franchise failed to make the last four was in 2003, which, as it happened, was also a World Cup year. That season's World Cup campaign was the worst in the Springboks' history. The Boks lost two games and were eliminated at the quarterfinal stage by New Zealand.But winning franchises doesn't automatically translate to World Cup success either.In 1995 Queensland won the Super 10 but Australia were bundled out of the World Cup in the quarterfinal. Four years later the Crusaders and the Highlanders contested the Super rugby final, but New Zealand were eliminated in the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup by France.In 2003 New Zealand had three franchises in the last four of Super 12 and the Blues and Crusaders contested the final. The All Blacks were sent packing in the semifinals of the World Cup by Australia.In 2011 the Reds won Super rugby but the All Blacks won the World Cup. The only anomaly has been in 2007 when the Bulls and the Sharks contested the final and the Springboks went on to win the World Cup. But that year New Zealand pulled their best players out of Super rugby for the first six weeks.Given the trend, the chances of the world champions and Super rugby champions coming from the same country in a World Cup year are 20%. There has to be comfort in that for Bok coach Heyneke Meyer.Bok captain Jean de Villiers is unperturbed by the stats."It's different when you get together as a Springbok team and put the jersey on. It changes people and it changes them for the good."There's a lot of exciting things that came out of Super rugby. You can look at the negatives and teams not performing, but for me there's a couple of youngsters who really stepped up this year."He added: "There are guys who were on the fringes who stabilised their position in the Springbok squad this year. From a senior player's point of view, some of them might have had bad Super rugby seasons, but I'm confident because those guys have proven what they can do at test match level."World Cup betting oddsBet 365: New Zealand 5/4, England 7/2, South Africa 5/1, Ireland 15/2, Australia 10/1.Skybet: New Zealand 11/8, South Africa 4/1, England 9/2, Ireland 9/1, Australia 10/1.Paddy Power: New Zealand 11/8, England 9/2, South Africa 5/1, Ireland 15/2, Australia 10/1.Ladbrokes: New Zealand 6/5, England 4/1, South Africa 5/1, Australia 9/1, Ireland 8/1...