SUPER Rugby will not have a South African winner for the fourth straight year after the Sharks were dismantled 38-6 by the Crusaders in a semifinal in Christchurch on Saturday.

The New Zealanders will meet Australian conference winners the Waratahs in front of an expected 83500 fans at Sydney's Olympic Stadium this coming weekend, while South Africans will watch the party from afar.

The Sharks were woeful as they leaked five tries and never came close to breaching the Crusaders' defence in 80 minutes of rugby that mirrored the state of South Africa's Super Rugby standards.

If these Sharks were the best South Africa had to offer, then the country should be worried about the overall state of rugby.

The Bulls finished ninth on the overall standings, the Stormers 11th, the Lions 12th and the Cheetahs 14th.

Since the tournament expanded to 15 teams with the introduction of the conference system in 2011, which doubled the amount of local derbies, South Africa's fortunes have generally waned.

This year SA teams managed only 17 wins in 42 matches against overseas opposition compared to 21 in 42 matches in 2011, 23 in 43 games in 2012 and 22 in 42 contests last year.

This year was also the first time since 2011 that a SA team did not occupy one of the top two places on the overall standings, with the Sharks finishing third on the combined log.

There were mitigating circumstances for the Sharks' poor performance - they played a "quarterfinal" against the Highlanders last week, while the Crusaders enjoyed a bye and then they had to travel 30 hours to NZ's South Island.

Captain Bismarck du Plessis did not make excuses after the game, blaming his team's poor execution of their basic game-plan as the reason for their comprehensive defeat.

"It was disappointing. Everything we worked on in the last two weeks we couldn't do," he said.