Nine of the 20 teams at this year's World Cup were led by All Black and Wallaby types, and now that Eddie Jones, aka the Tasmanian Devil, has broken new ground as the first foreign boss of the England side, the takeover of the international game in the British Isles is complete.
In the 1980's and 90's, the fund was one of the most influential investors on Wall Street, taking sides in takeover battles and demanding more involved, independent boards at companies like General Motors; Sears, Roebuck; and Time Warner.
On the buy side, large takeovers like BHP Billiton/Rio Tinto, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan/BCE and Panasonic/Sanyo have been called off, and stock buybacks have hit record lows in Europe and Canada.
Last Thursday, hours after Novartis of Switzerland announced that it would begin merger talks with Aventis, one side in the takeover battle swung into action.
Marston's has extended its brewing side with the takeover last year of the beer division of Daniel Thwaites, bringing in brands such as Lancaster Bomber and Wainwright to sit alongside such well-known beers as Pedigree and Brakspear.
The sale of Wrexham Football Club has been completed after the Welsh side confirmed the takeover on Wednesday.
Unite is now seeking meetings with both sides in the takeover battle to try to secure guarantees about future UK operations.
But during the interview, Mr. Schröder declined to take sides in the takeover battle, and he identified himself with Mr. Putin's view that the fight for financial control of NTV is separate from the issue of guaranteeing press freedom.
Hands will allege that Wormsley was keen for him to buy the company because Citi stood to gain millions in fees on both the buy and sell sides of the takeover.
On Wednesday, an appeals court unexpectedly ruled against the takeover, siding with bondholders who had sued to prevent the deal on the grounds that it would load the company with debt and devalue their holdings.
