Karl Tu'inukuafe made his immense presence felt with a game-changing introduction to Test rugby as New Zealand came from behind to record a runaway 52-11 win over France in Auckland on Saturday.
The All Blacks scored eight tries, seven of them after the man mountain, who was not on their radar a few weeks ago, came on five minutes into the second half and used his size to give the world champions a much-needed scrum dominance.
From being 8-11 down at the break, the All Blacks piled on 44 unanswered points in a blistering second half to stretch their Eden Park unbeaten run to 41 games.
Codie Taylor, Ben Smith, Damian McKenzie, Ardie Savea and Ngani Laumape all scored tries in the second period, while Rieko Ioane ran in two.
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French fullback Maxime Medard will have nightmares about his last-ditch attempt to block Laumape when the All Blacks replacement charged at the line.
Nine years ago, Medard was the French hero with a match-winning try when they beat the All Blacks in Dunedin, but this time he will be remembered for being sent flying as Laumape ran through him.
It epitomised a brutal turnaround after France had claimed the better of the first half to hold a three-point lead at the turn.
Props Dany Priso and Uini Atonio were in the thick of the early action as France used their muscle to best the All Blacks in the scrums and mauls, while their backs were willing to run at every opportunity.
The All Blacks moved the ball from side to side as well as employing long-range grubber kicks and short chips over the backline, all to no avail.
Left wing Remy Grosso was gifted the opening try when Ben Smith swooped on the ball at the back of an unprotected French ruck.
His clearing pass, which would have put Ioane in the clear, was instead intercepted by Grosso who had an easy run to the line.
After an exchange of penalties by Beauden Barrett and Morgan Parra, the three Barrett brothers featured in an equalising try.
Scott and Jordie Barrett created space for Ryan Crotty to take the ball to the line, where Beauden Barrett finished the move.
A booming 51-metre penalty by Parra lifted France to 11-8 and while New Zealand pounded the French line in the closing minutes of the first half, they were unable to draw level again until the introduction of Tu'inukuafe early in the second half.
In the first scrum of the second half when Tu'inukuafe was on the field, the French pack was driven back and in the following rucks and mauls the impact was the same.
His first scrum effort produced a penalty for Beauden Barrett to level the scores, and when Paul Gabrillagues was sin-binned, the floodgates opened.
The All Blacks ruthlessly scored 32 points in 20 minutes with the tries to Taylor, Ben Smith, Ioane, McKenzie and Laumape.
Beauden Barrett, having an off-night with the boot, contributed two conversions and a penalty.
France pressured the All Blacks line in the closing 10 minutes but Ioane snaffled an intercept pass to for his second try before Ardie Savea barged over on the stroke of fulltime.
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.”
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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