TWICKENHAM // It took only 12 years.
When Jonny Wilkinson nailed that famous drop goal in Sydney in 2003, he put England on a pedestal from which they came crashing down last night after a painful 33-13 loss to Australia.
A virtuoso performance from Wallaby fly-half Bernard Foley, who scored two tries and kicked 16 points overall, gave Australia a 17-3 lead at half time.
England wing Anthony Watson hit back in the second half, but Matt Giteau applied the gloss to the resounding win with a late converted try to bring the country with the most players and richest union to its knees.
Stuart Lancaster’s side became the first host nation to miss out on the knockout rounds since the World Cup began in 1987, and the highlight of their tournament will remain the bonus point win over Fiji 16 days ago.
The recriminations will begin immediately and the focus will fall on Lancaster, a fine man who stood by his principles to the detriment of the single aim of winning the World Cup.
Where Wallaby coach Michael Cheika changed the eligibility laws to field the strongest possible squad at the tournament, Lancaster steadfastly refused.
He did not resort to poaching flanker Steffon Armitage from Toulon and left out others such as Manu Tuilagi and Dylan Hartley due to disciplinary matters.
With David Pocock and Michael Hooper creating havoc at the breakdown last night, the England coach will have ample time over the next few months to reflect on his decisions, most likely without his job.
His side must now pick up the pieces in order to play a dead rubber in Manchester next Saturday against Uruguay, while Australia return here to take on Wales for the right to top Pool A.
Australia enjoyed a weight advantage up front and have improved markedly under the supervision of former Argentine international hooker Mario Ledesma, but England were the superior eight for much of the opening half.
Although the home side achieved parity in possession and territory, it was their unforced errors, both last night and against Wales eight days ago, that set them on to a course towards defeat.
After 15 minutes, England were level at 3-3 but just after Owen Farrell had pulled his side level, Mike Brown failed to field an awkward Adam Ashley-Cooper grubber in his 22. Although England disrupted the Wallaby scrum, the Rugby Championship winners kept the ball and probed England’s defensive line.
Foley momentarily saw daylight and prised the gap open with a sublime show and go to ghost through flailing tackles by Joe Launchbury and Brown to score his first World Cup try.
England continued to play in the right areas, but a lack of composure on the ball and failure to contain the Wallabies marauding back-row resulted in their attacks breaking down at key moments.
There was a battle royal in the scrums between props Sekope Kepu and Joe Marler, but the Waratahs tight-head got the upper hand and won a vital penalty late in the half.
Giteau secured a foothold in England’s half with the kick, and from a breakdown in midfield Will Genia found Foley travelling at speed with substitute Kurtley Beale alongside him. A simple interchange between the two took out Ben Youngs for Foley to score his fourth try in seven games.
England had never pulled back a deficit of more than 10 points and were staring down the barrel. At half time, Lancaster replaced Jonny May for George Ford in a hope to create more attacking positions and his passing game produced Watson’s try via the quick hands of Launchbury in the 56th minute.
Farrell then pulled England back to within a score, but was sent to the sin bin for the final ten minutes before Giteau applied the coup de grace.
Swing Low? England have never been lower.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Fund-raising tips for start-ups
Develop an innovative business concept
Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors
Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19
Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.)
Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months
Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses
Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
