(Hickstead, UK) - When it comes to drama Hickstead rarely disappoints and today's fifth leg of the Samsung Super League series produced plenty of exciting moments as, just had been expected, the Americans and Germans battled it out for pole position with Germany coming out on top and taking over at the head of the league table.

US riders were clearly on form when taking the top three placings in the early morning class but winner, McLain Ward, was quickly brought back to earth when biting the dirt at the penultimate double of ditches in the nations' cup when his 10 year old mare, Sapphire, backed right off the second element and fell in a pile of poles.

Despite the loss of Ward the US were impressive when Kimberley Prince made only a single error each time out while Beezie Madden kept the pressure on when picking up just four first-round faults with Authentic.

Switzerland's Hansueli Sprunger, already in trouble when Rubens Du Ry D'Asse stopped at the first element of the double at fence seven before lowering two more fences, also gave his rider the ejector seat at the ditches but the horse didn't fall and Sprunger remounted to finish. The horse looked uncomfortable leaving the arena however and the Swiss rider did not return for the second round.

In a surprising move, the French withdrew in round one after pathfinder Philippe Rozier was eliminated at the same fence and new recruit, Nathalie Paillot, picked up 27 faults.

Course-builder Bob Ellis gave them plenty to think about with a maximum height vertical at three, a difficult line from a triple bar at six to a double at seven followed by a dog-leg to a set of planks, while the Longines double - oxer to vertical - at nine hit the floor for many.

The ditches however were the real bogey but, by round two when Germany already held the advantage with the Dutch in second, the US in third, Belgium in fourth, Ireland in fifth, Switzerland in sixth and the home side in last, things began to settle down with considerably improved performances all round.

John Whitaker and Exploit du Roulard produced one of only six clear rounds when leading the way in the second round but the British were struggling while the Swiss, hampered by the absence of Sprunger, had to settle for a total score of 52 faults despite a foot-perfect second round for Puis Schwizer and Unique.

Belgium's Jean Claude Vangeenberghe also kept a second-round clean sheet with Osta Rugs Quintus but after big scores for Maurice van Roosbroeck and Dirk Demeersman both times out, Belgium finished just one fault ahead of the Swiss in sixth while the British slotted into fifth.

Cian O'Connor made the perfect return to the Irish team when clear with Waterford Crystal in round one and, on his Super League debut, Shane Breen produced a creditable 12-fault result with World Cruise, but big scores for Dave Quigley and Denis Lynch jeopardized Irish chances and, although they slotted into fourth place in the final analysis the Irish have dropped to the bottom of the league table going into their home leg in Dublin next week.

Wout Jan van der Schans picked up a total of 32 faults but just six faults over two rounds for Harrie Smolders and Oliver, boosted by a first round clear and a nine-fault second-round result for Mathijs Van Asten and VDL Groep Kwidanta, helped the Dutch to slot into third.

German Chef d'Equipe did not tell Rene Tebbel that the result hung in the balance as he went into the ring last with Quel Homme but Tebbel did not disappoint, coming home with a single time fault to ensure his side won by a narrow one-point margin.

The league table continues to be a close-fought thing with only one point separating the Belgians, Dutch and Irish at the bottom end and just 2.5 points between the Germans in pole position and the US in second.

RESULTS:

1. Germany - 27 faults: Diamonds Daylight (Alois Pollmann-Schweckhorst) 1+5, Asti Spumante (Thomas Muhlbauer) 4+4, Carino (Ulrich Kirchhoff) 16+12, Quel Homme (Rene Tebbel) 12+1.

2. USA - 28 faults: Miss Independent (Laura Kraut) 12+4, Marlou (Kimberley Prince) 4+4, Sapphire (McLain Ward) Elim+DNS, Authentic (Beezie Madden) 4+0.

3. The Netherlands - 39 faults: Oliver (Harrie Smolders) 2+4, Miss Montana (Emile Tacken) 17+9, Broere VDL Atlantic (Wout-Jan van der Schans) 24+8, VDL Groep Kwidanta (Mathijs Van Asten) 0+8.

4. Ireland - 45 faults: Waterford Crystal (Cian O'Connor) 0+9, World Cruise (Shane Breen) 8+4, Ashdale Futuro (David Quigley) 21+5, Domingo (Denis Lynch) 20+8.

5. Great Britain - 48 faults: Exploit du Roulard (John Whitaker) 13+0, Nicolette (Robert Whitaker) 13+12, Thesaura (Mark Armstrong) 9+5, Russel (Nick Skelton) 25+8.

6. Belgium - 51 faults: Osta Rugs Quintus (Jean-Claude Van Geenberghe) 9+0, Le Coup C (Maurice Van Roosbroeck) 20+17, Tiquila (Dirk Demeersman) 9+29, Karioka del Follee (Philippe Le Jeune) 8+8. 7.

Switzerland - 52 faults: Unique (Pius Schwizer) 12+0, Cantus (Niklaus Schurtenberger) 9+9, Hansueli Sprunger (Rubens du Ry D'Asse) 34+DNS, Principal (Beat Mandli) 9+13.

8. France - Retired: Senna Van Paemel (Philippe Rozier) Elim, Kapital Girl (Nathalie Paillot) 27, Cyrenaike FRA (Philippe Leoni) DNS, First de Launay (Florian Angot) DNS.

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE LEADERBOARD (after Round 5 in Hickstead): 1. Germany - 31
2. USA - 28.5
3. Great Britain - 23.5
4. Switzerland - 23.0
5. France - 20.5
6. Belgium - 12.5
7. The Netherlands - 12.0
8. Ireland - 11.5.

ENDS
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