SHARJAH // One of the UAE’s most historic rugby clubs aim to continue their quiet renaissance this afternoon when they host a fixture that is perennially poignant.
It has been a long time since Sharjah Wanderers were headline acts in domestic rugby. They are in third place in the second-tier competition, the UAE Conference, safely confirmed as part of the season-ending mini-league that decides the division’s top places.
Their first opponents in the new programme are the Dubai Hurricanes second XV, a club that was initially formed by a group of Wanderers players who left to start a new team.
To say the two entities have had contrasting fortunes in the time since the split is a bit like saying the UAE has warm summers. It does not really cover it.
The Hurricanes are one of the biggest clubs in the country now, supported by a massive junior section and boasting plenty of recent titles at senior level.
Sharjah have endured some barren times, but the present and future are looking bright.
They have not racked up any three-figure scores this season, like the runaway Conference leaders from Al Ain.
They may have a decision to make at the end of the season, though. If they carry on their current rate of progress, top-flight rugby would become a possibility.
Al Ain Amblers, the champions elect, will have to accept promotion to the Premiership at the end of this campaign.
Their current counterparts will refuse to play the Amblers again, given the thrashings they have meted out to more or less everyone this season. The Garden City club turned down promotion this season as they wanted another year of Conference rugby to consolidate after some tough years of their own.
Sharjah think exercising caution in a similar way would be the sensible thing to do, should the option come their way.
“We would need to reassess and see where we stand,” said Shane Breen, the club chairman who plays at scrum-half for the Wanderers.
“At the moment, we are not a Premiership side. We have a number of quality players who could quite easily play in the Premiership, but we still don’t have the numbers and the depth to make that step up.
“Watching the Gulf Top Six matches, it really is a big step up. We need another really good season.”
Caution such as that is well-founded, and pragmatic rather than pessimistic. Sharjah’s history is in many ways unparalleled here. Even in recent years, they have seen the likes of Carlos Spencer and Christian Cullen playing in their 10-a-side tournament.
Furthermore, they have had one of their former players selected for the British & Irish Lions. Ryan Grant, the Scotland prop who played in the Lions midweek side on their tour of Australia in 2013, was a one-time Wanderer.
The club has some of the best facilities anywhere in the UAE, as a result of matches in the 2006 Under 19 World Championship being played there.
However, the city no longer supports the same base of expatriates from rugby-playing nations that it once did.
Only five of the current team live in Sharjah. The upswing in fortunes on the field correlates with the time it was decided to shift training to Dubai.
For the past two years, they have opted to use public facilities at Zabeel Park in Dubai – and recently at the Modern Academy in Nad Al Sheba – rather than their own high-spec playing facilities.
Results show it has worked, but Breen says the club remain committed to maintaining their identity.
“When the players go to Sharjah on game day, they really get a sense of the history of the club,” Breen said.
“We don’t plan on rebranding and forming another team based out of Dubai. But we changed the mindset when we moved to Dubai and attracted more players.
“Rather than going out as a social side, we went out focused on winning. If we didn’t win every week, we took it pretty hard.”
pradley@thenational.ae
Follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
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Maestro
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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.”
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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Fixture and table
UAE finals day: Friday, April 13 at Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
- 3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
- 6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership – final standings
- Dubai Exiles
- Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Jebel Ali Dragons
- Dubai Hurricanes
- Dubai Sports City Eagles
- Abu Dhabi Saracens
FIXTURES
December 28
Stan Wawrinka v Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Milos Raonic v Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 29 - semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Stan Wawrinka / Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic / Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 30
3rd/4th place play-off, 5pm
Final, 7pm
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Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
