It took a mere breach of the salary cap for the Football Federation of Australia to impose a severe fine on Perth Glory and kick them out of the finals series. It might take a double homicide before SANZAR ever took similar punitive action. In recent weeks the Sharks have brought rugby into disrepute, but no one in authority seems willing to even investigate the franchise, let alone impose any punishment.

There are two very serious charges to be levelled against the Sharks. The first charge is that the current CEO and coach are responsible for a lack of discipline that has fostered appalling levels of violence. In the space of 15 days Bismarck du Plessis, Francois Steyn and Jean Deysel were sent off for acts that would have seen them arrested if committed on the streets.

South Africa is becoming an increasingly brutal and angry country, but it is a worry when some of that violence starts to seep out on the rugby pitch. Du Plessis was suspended for four weeks for kicking Michael Leitch in the head. Steyn received five weeks for a tip tackle that could have broken Aaron Cruden's neck. Deysel was given seven weeks for kneeing Matt Todd in the head.

Sanzar says it will not be going beyond those individual punishments, which seems to me an abnegation of its responsibility in upholding World Rugby's code of conduct. Nick Mallett said after the Crusaders game, "I'm ashamed of South African players who behave like this.

"Bismarck was completely in the wrong – it was only two weeks ago. Surely the Sharks have been speaking about this, that it's unacceptable behaviour on the field. You cannot knee a guy in the head, it's just ridiculous and he (Deysel) thoroughly deserved a red card. As an ex South African coach and player, I cannot stand seeing things like this on the field and it's a disgrace to rugby."

It is a disgrace that Sanzar is happy to ignore beyond the imposition of individual punishments. It is a disgrace that the South African Rugby Union is happy to ignore, although president Oregon Hoskins did say, "I've just about had enough. I'm at my wits' end." Astonishingly, he was not complaining about the Sharks, but about New Zealand and Australian players not receiving commensurate levels of punishment. Hoskins might have a point, but it was never the time to raise it.

Indeed the only people taking any action are on the Sharks board. Chairman Stephen Saad said, "We have decided that going forward there must be a policy of 'no pay for no play' should a player be suspended for foul play. The Sharks Board agree red cards and dirty play cannot be condoned and it is unacceptable that this behaviour be associated with the Sharks brand.

"We endorse the executive management's suggestion that the current censure (suspension from playing) is inadequate and can confirm that further sanction on the players has been taken over and above that served from Sanzar. To this end we consulted legal counsel regarding 'no play, no pay' for red cards."

Apart from the clammy corporate use of the word brand, it is revealing that even the Sharks board apparently think the reaction of SANZAR is woefully inadequate. It has come to something when the game's money men step in to protect rugby's image ahead of its administrative bodies.

I wonder if the Sharks Board are also investigating what took place at the Shark Tank over Easter when the Sharks played the Crusaders, because again SANZAR shows no interest. The Shark Tank is aptly named because the evidence of the match suggests several Sharks players were "tanking", a sports term for not trying or deliberately failing.

Certainly that is what coach Gary Gold appeared to believe of his players. At halftime Gold said, shaking his head and looking confused, "We've got to work a lot harder. That was absolutely shocking, a shocking first half of rugby. We let ourselves down…This is not what we are supposed to be about. We are a team that works hard for each other. Off the ball as well.

"We've just handed them three soft tries because of our inability to work hard to get back, defend properly and make tackles. And when we had our opportunities, we've not taken them. It's quite a clear message – 25 points down we have a hell of a hill to climb, but we need to show some courage."

There was no courage forthcoming. After the match, Gold said, "There is nothing more we can do than apologise. You see the ball bouncing in your 22 and there is no urgency to grab it…you look for the spark but it is not there. It was an unacceptable performance."

South Africa's newspaper The Witness reported, "Had Saturday's contest taken place at nearby Greyville there would have been a stewards' inquiry…The Sharks lacked effort, intensity and urgency."

The big question is why. Alys Lewis, the head of England's RFU's anti-corruption strategy, says, "Having that level playing field and the audience believing what they are watching is real is a vital thing to protect as once it is gone, it must be very difficult to get back."

I kept rubbing my eyes. I did not believe what I was watching was real. Lineouts were overthrown by metres. The Sharks had no line speed. Players did not bother to cover back. Dreadful passes were thrown inside the 22.

In a bizarre passage of play three Crusaders were yellow carded just before half-time. They were down to 12 men. The Sharks attacked the line, then Deysel got himself sent off for gratuitous foul play. At the start of the second half, in the space of 60 seconds, the Sharks dropped the kick-off, overthrew a line-out and knocked on.

The Crusaders were still playing with 12 men when Colin Slade chipped over the defensive line in front of him. The two Sharks forwards did not bother to block him off. The scrum-half did not bother to cover across. Slade went over unopposed. A few minutes later Todd ran over from a lineout, also unopposed.

There is no suggestion of match-fixing. The New Zealand Rugby Union confirm Sportsradar has reported no unusual betting patterns. But not everyone will be convinced. Some will mutter Hanse Cronje. Others will point out South Africa is being investigated over some lead-up matches to the 2010 World Cup. They will say South Africa has a gambling black market that monitoring services would not pick up.

That is precisely why Sanzar has to look into the Sharks. This sort of stuff is like an oil spill. It takes ages to clean up.

Maybe some Sharks players, in a culture in which the CEO appoints two mates as coaches who some see as having limited top-level experience, just couldn't be bothered. Maybe they hate the coach. Maybe they had been out on the sauce. Maybe lots of things.

And "maybe" is the problem. Four years ago the Sharks and the Crusaders were playing one of the great Super Rugby games on behalf of earthquake relief in New Zealand and Japan. The Sharks were also mourning for 200 of their people who had just died in raging floods. The teams put on a classic. One collision between Ryan Kankowski and Sonny Bill shook Twickenham. The rugby was sublime and left the British press envious and breathless.

So how did we come to this. World Rugby's chief executive Brett Gosper, says "the concern is high" about match-fixing, yet no one wants to know the real reason why some Sharks players were guilty of a lack of effort. We have to clear the air. We have to have that 'stewards inquiry', if only to hear from the players what was really going on that day.

Leading into the match the Sharks had won their previous three home games, the Crusaders had lost their two previous away games. The Sharks' average score at home this season was 21-19. The Crusaders' average away from home was 20-30. And then suddenly, without even playing well, the Crusaders are putting 50 points on an uninterested rabble. You had to ask the question, why were the Sharks subs clearly trying harder than some of the starters?

Violence and not trying is a toxic mixture. Yet I am told, "Sanzar will not be taking further action beyond the judicial sanctions issued to the players in question." That is not good enough. The Sharks are coming to New Zealand. They play the Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday night. We have to believe that what we are watching is for real.