NFL star Peyton Manning famously said that pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what you are doing.
During the Rugby World Cup, each of the teams set to take part in the Six Nations, which starts on Saturday, failed spectacularly to deal with the intense stress they were placed under. They all have a lot to prove.
One by one, the Six Nations teams imploded at the World Cup, starting with England’s failure to make the correct penalty call against Wales at Twickenham in the pool stages.
Ireland wilted under an intense first-half onslaught from Argentina at the quarter-final stage. Wales conceded yet another late try against South Africa at the same stage. And then there was defensively porous Scotland, who never recovered from several refereeing mistakes against Australia. France and Italy delivered campaigns that were barely mentioned in dispatches.
And yet when Australia met New Zealand in the final, under the most intense pressure that the game can exert, the trans-Tasman rivals produced one of the most open finals yet seen and a record score.
From the caviar of the southern hemisphere teams in the World Cup final four, the Six Nations looms like a sodden blancmange as dessert.
Six Nations 2016: Squads, fixtures, kick-off times (UAE) and team previews
The Six Nations this year is a huge drop in grade from the beautiful yet brutally effective rugby showcased by New Zealand, but whatever the tournament lacks this season in quality, the five rounds are likely to be as compelling as ever.
All four of the home unions have coaches from the southern hemisphere. New Zealand have contributed Warren Gatland to Wales, Vern Cotter to Scotland and Joe Schmidt to Ireland. Eddie Jones, England’s new coach, hails from Australia. France’s Guy Noves is the only coach of the six born in the country of the team he presides over.
All have their theories as to why their sides made poor decisions during the World Cup, but Gatland has been the most illuminating as to why the Six Nations sides can only play when freed from the burden of expectation.
“This tournament is over so quickly,” he said. “There is a lot of pressure on coaches and teams to get results and perform.
“It’s all about winning rather than the way that you play.
“Conversely, on the final weekend last year, we saw when the shackles came off and teams had to go out and play, we saw what we are capable of doing.
“If we were able to produce that on a more consistent basis, then I think we would compete more with the southern hemisphere.”
Over the next six weeks the pressure will be there, but it will be wrapped up in tribalism and rivalries that all of the players and coaches understand.
The matches will be staged in stadiums that hold cherished and bitter memories. They start with Italy’s daunting visit to the Stade De France amid heightened security due to last year’s Paris attacks, right through to France hosting England on March 19.
In between there will be rain-sodden pitches. There will be partisan fans who sing whether their teams are winning or losing.
There are records to put right, too. Scotland, for all their new-found cutting edge in attack, have not scored a try against England at Murrayfield since Simon Danielli touched down in 2004. Ireland bid to become the first team to win the title three years in a row. France need to climb out of the doldrums. Italy must show enough grit to silence talk of relegation and promotion. Wales are rated the best team in the tournament and are considered favourites. England once again quietly believe themselves to be so.
The Six Nations is a tournament like no other, and with buoyant crowds that packed in last season to the tune of a 96 per cent attendance rate and a huge social media presence, it is more popular than ever.
The players just need to do their bit and front up.
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
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.”
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
