A first-half blitz from Willie le Roux propelled the Springboks to a 38-16 rout of Wales in Durban on Saturday in the first of a two-Test series.
Fullback Le Roux scored one try and set up three others at King’s Park where Bryan Habana crossed over twice to go along with tries from Duane Vermeulen and debutant Cornal Hendricks as South Africa retained their unbeaten record against the Welsh on home soil.
“I will take five tries to one anytime, anywhere in the world. Last week we scored six against a World XV and now five against one of the top defensive teams around,” said South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer, who reserved special praise for man of the moment Le Roux.
“Willie is probably the best fullback in the world at the moment,” said Meyer.
“He is playing with a lot of confidence and has a license to express himself.
“I am very happy about his progress since he started on the wing last season. I challenged him to improve his aerial skills and defence last season and he did that very well.”
Fly-half Morne Steyn was also on song with the boot as he converted all five tries plus a penalty for a 13-point haul.
Wales wing Alex Cuthbert scored a fine solo try, which was converted by James Hook, in a losing effort with Dan Biggar accounting for two drop goals and a penalty.
The Boks were captained by Victor Matfield, who was making his return to Test rugby three years after his retirement, in the absence of injured skipper Jean de Villiers as the home side featured six changes to the team that beat an invitational World XV last week.
Wales boss Warren Gatland, who on Friday was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in the queen’s birthday honours list, included George North in his starting XV despite a recent illness.
Wales, whose lone victory against South Africa came 15 years ago in Cardiff, made a flowing start and were rewarded as Biggar landed an early drop goal.
That stirred the Boks into action, though, and the response from Meyer’s men was immediate as Le Roux clipped through a deft kick that was touched down by Habana in the corner on six minutes with Steyn nailing the conversion.
Wales were dealt a costly blow shortly after when Jamie Roberts was sin-binned for taking out an airborne Le Roux, albeit not deliberately.
The Boks made their numerical advantage count as Vermuelen ploughed over following a line-out with the undermanned Welsh defence simply overpowered and Steyn again converted to make it 14-3.
Biggar drilled a second drop goal to pull the Welsh to within eight but they were again torn apart moments after the restart as Le Roux darted down the left before dishing across to Habana who sprinted across the line for his second try of the contest.
Having set up two tries already it was then the turn of Le Roux to go it all alone as he collected his own nasty, bouncing kick that deceived Welsh counterpart Liam Williams to score the Boks fourth try just before the interval.
Biggar slotted through a penalty to leave Wales trailing 28-9 at half-time but the onslaught continued in the second period with Steyn sending over a penalty after the visitors were penalised for a dangerous tackle.
Hendricks made it a debut to remember as South Africa moved the ball from one side of the pitch to the other before Le Roux offloaded to the wing who brushed aside North on his way over on 51 minutes.
The floodgates seemed destined to open by this stage but the Welsh hung tough to keep the Boks at bay before notching a consolation try courtesy of Cuthbert’s magnificent individual effort as he ran from his own 22, weaving his way through the home defence before cutting inside Le Roux to touch down.
The sides will line up again in Nelspruit next Saturday for the second and final match of the series.
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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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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
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.”
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
