Durban - At the weekend, the Sharks confirmed that Bltizboks coach Neil Powell will join them in a newly created position of director of rugby, and there were also rumours from France that Bok bruiser Eben Etzebeth has all but signed with the Durbanites.
Powell was originally signed as a defence coach but will now head the overall coaching structures at the Sharks, be it the Currie Cup or the United Rugby Championship.
Etzebeth, should he agree a salary cut from what he was earning at Toulon, would be the latest key Springbok to move to Durban, in the slip-stream of fellow former Stormers Siya Kolisi and Bongi Mbonambi.
All of these changes at the Sharks have come after the highly publicised buy-out by an American-based consortium.
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Prior to their involvement, the path the Sharks were undergoing was a natural progression under CEO Eduard Coetzee, who had taken over from Gary Teichmann, and new coach Sean Everitt, who had succeeded Robert du Preez.
What we saw in the second half of 2019 was Everitt bringing through the best players from his Under-19 team that swept all before them to win the national U19 title.
We are talking about the likes of Sanele Nohamba, Phepsi Buthelezi, Mpilo Gumede, Jeandre Labuschagne, Boeta Chamberlain, JJ van der Mescht, Jaden Hendrikse, Marnus Potgieter, Murray Koster and Dylan Richardson.
The idea was that these young bucks would be the backbone of the Sharks going forward, and many of them are indeed involved.
Then came the American purchase of the majority share of the Sharks and the squad of players have been boosted by some big names, the likes of Springbok giants Kolisi, Mbonambi and, probably, Etzebeth.
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The Sharks are very much a union that is ambitiously building, but I worry that there is too much happening to quickly.
An old cliche is that too many cooks spoil the broth, and I just hope that there is not too much happening at the Sharks all at once.
It is an irony that the union the American consortium first courted, the Stormers, are playing out of their skins with a squad of players that has few superstars and over a fortnight embarrassed the Sharks in homeand-away URC fixtures.
The Stormers have few big-name players but have come together nicely as a team and are currently leading the South African challenge in the URC.
The Sharks have all the big names and the US dollars behind them, and yes they beat the Bulls away at the weekend, but consistent cohesion among the players is what counts.
I think Everitt is an excellent coach and is very much the way forward for the Sharks, and while I understand they need back-up in certain positions, and support behind the scenes, which Powell will provide, at the end of the day the Sharks need to be wary that they don’t have too many cooks throwing too many ingredients into the broth.
@MikeGreenaway