Sharks were poor against Edinburgh but they will soon hit their URC straps

The Sharks remind me of a V8 Ford Mustang that is firing on only four of its cylinders. There is all that potential power bubbling under the bonnet, and threatening to send a beast roaring around the United Rugby Championship circuit.

But… it is not happening because this particular Mustang has not been “run-in”. The oil still needs to course through the engine and lubricate the working parts.

I have seen on social media that some ignorant Sharks supporters are saying that the chief mechanic, John Plumtree, is the problem. It is the big Kiwi’s fault that the engine is not fine-tuned.

This is nonsense. The reason the Sharks are misfiring is that this season, they have struggled to have an established nucleus playing consistently.

We saw 15 Springboks turn out for the Edinburgh game, but a host of them had not played for some time, and certainly not in the same unit.

Plumtree warned last week that games are not won by pedigreed names on paper, but by those stars playing to their potential and, crucially, for each other.

Bulls and former Springbok coach Jake White said something similar on the eve of the Sharks’ match against Edinburgh.

First, White marveled at the star-studded lineup. He said: “This is one of the most powerful provincial teams to leave South Africa's shores. It is the strongest Sharks team in over 15 years, and I don’t see how they can make it any stronger.”

Then White threw in this caveat, “I have a concern that this team might not click immediately because a lot of guys are making comebacks. That could be an issue.”

And it was…

An observation I have made over my decades of rugby reporting is that the successful teams have a nucleus of, say, 10 players who start 90 percent of the games. You have to consistently field most of your best players.

That establishes the basis of the team culture, and it feeds off itself the more the team plays together.

The Sharks' “Team of the ‘90s” under Ian McIntosh is a prime example. Rassie Erasmus has been doing something similar with the Springboks.

Incidentally, when Ian Mac retired at the end of the 1999 season, along with a host of players, including legends in Gary Teichmann, Henry Honiball, and Andre Joubert, the next year was a disaster. The Sharks had seemingly bought well, but players were coming in from all over the country. Initially, they were just guns for hire thrown together.

That team was coached in 2000 by Hugh Recce-Edwards. He had played in Mac’s great teams and been his assistant after he retired as a player. Reece knew what culture was required, but installing it overnight with so many disparate elements was impossible.

The Sharks won just one Super Rugby game that season, and before the end of it, Reece was sacked. The truth is that he never had a chance that season because of the mass retirements the previous year.

Plumtree was another player under Mac, and he knows the “team first” culture better than anybody. He is preaching it to the current Sharks squad, and the players are willing listeners, but applying it is another story when you have so many Springboks, and they are either injured, resting, or away on national duty.

The Sharks have four guaranteed games left of the season — three URC league games and a quarter-final. Plumtree’s dream team now has the Edinburgh game under the belt, and watch them play much better next week against Ulster in Belfast.

My gut feel is that they will return from tour and pulverise the Ospreys and Scarlets in Durban.

Before this season is done, Plumtree’s Mustang is going to fire on all cylinders, and even Leinster will be wary of the beast.