In somewhat of a renaissance, the French stormed to victory in the third leg of the Samsung Super League with FEI series in Rome, Italy today and while the Germans maintain the lead at the head of the table, their advantage has been significantly reduced after a disappointing performance at the Italian fixture.

Finishing joint-fifth along with Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Holland, Germany only collected 1.5 points but the Americans, who shared second place with the much-fancied British, added a further six to their tally and lie just 1.5 points behind the leaders going into the fourth leg in Lucerne next Friday. The French have moved into third and today's result saw a different, more focused French effort along with a welcome return of the kind of spirit that earned them the Samsung title during both the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Course designer Giovanni Bussu presented a clever track that was not over-big but still tested horses and riders and created a drama-filled finale to the competition. The water jump at five created a few problems but it was the following double - vertical to oxer with water trays under each element - that was the bogey of the day while the triple combination three from home, and the flimsy penultimate rustic, found out tiring horses.

Trailing the leaderboard going into this third leg, the Irish were not favoured by the first-to-go draw but pathfinder, 23 year old Ryan Crumley, was not fazed on his Super League debut when producing a foot-perfect tour of the track. The first-line riders generally followed suit with apparently little effort but as the competition evolved the problems began to emerge and Olympic medalist Ulrich Kirchhoff did nothing for German chances when Carino stumbled after the second element of the treble and ground to a halt, returning a score of 18. Holland's Wim Schroder fared even worse when Eurcommerce Vancouver landed in the water, slipped and crash-landed while Mylene Diederichsmeier did well to return an eight-fault result for Germany with Countess G who almost jammed on the brakes in front of the double at six. The most spectacular dismount of the day however was reserved for Italy's Natale Chiaudani who took a horrible fall from Hariane D'Authieux when they got their distance wrong in the double after the water.

At the halfway stage the Germans were in deep trouble, carrying 16 faults due to Kirchhoff's elimination. Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Holland were all sharing a tally of 12 faults while the much-improved Irish shared second slot with the British and Americans with just four on the board and the French already led the field on a zero score when dropping the 12 faults collected by Simon Delestre and Inedite de Balme.

Another 12 faults for Germany saw them complete with a total of 28 and, in a rather strange sequence, four more nations finished with exactly the same score. An uncharacteristic four fences down for Loro Piana Albin and Juan Carlos Garcia did nothing to enhance Italy's position, the Swiss failed to record a single clear round, the Swedes looked to be making a recovery when Lotta Schultz produced a fault-free performance from Calibra but three mistakes from Svante Johansson and Nostradamus put paid to that, and the Dutch joined the 28-fault group when they had to add 16 more to their tally.

A battle was played out between the Irish, British and Americans, and Irish chances were diminished when Crumley's second-round 12 faults could not be discounted as Charles came home with four fences on the floor to leave them with a total of 20. The British were just not quite as sharp as had been expected with rising star Tim Gredley less impressive than of late when collecting 12 faults and when all four riders made a single error second time out they completed with 16. Laura Kraut fought a strong rearguard action for the USA with Miss Independent when following her single-error first round with a clear at her second attempt but with 12 to add the US was forced to join Britain on a 16 fault final scoreline while Jean Marc Nicolas did not have to jump a second time as the French were clear winners.

Pierre Jarry's Haxelle Dampierre clipped the second element of the double after the water second time out but Simon Delestre (Inedite de Balme), who provided the discard score with 12 faults in round one, was foot-perfect while Stephan Lafouge and Gavelou des Ores recorded one of just two double-clears to seal victory - the other completed by Ireland's Cameron Hanley.

Of course French Chef d'Equipe Jean Maurice Bonneau was very happy indeed. "I think we have renewed the French team and I'm delighted with the performance of my young rider Simon Delestre - he is only 24 year old and won a medal at the Mediterranean Games last year" he said, adding, "and Stephan Lafouge jumped a wonderful double clear". He described Jean-Marc Nicolas as "an old rider who gives confidence to his team". Nicolas pointed out that he first came to Rome to compete in the Nations Cup 25 years ago "and I promise you that in 25 more years I will still be doing it again!". Lafouge was competing in only his second Samsung Super League with FEI competition.

"Samsung and the FEI have created a very special competition with the Super League" Bonneau pointed out. "For three weeks in a row we must have top teams to compete in this series and it has made it very, very exciting. We still have five more competitions and it is really important to stay in the Super League - it is the top competition for teams and to fall out of it would be a catastrophe" he insisted.

The FEI's John Roche complimented the Rome organisers for presenting their leg of the series "in one of the most beautiful showgrounds in the world" and he thanked Samsung for their support - "the company has been with the FEI for over 20 years now and we hope it will continue for many years to come" he added.

"The course designer did a great job today" Mons. Bonneau continued. "All riders should be able to jump a nations cup course and today it was not over-big but you could see that in the second round many horses were not clear. The course designer was clever and built the track like a horseman, he did not have to raise the fences between rounds, yet at the end of the competition it was not so easy."

He plans to bring a new team to Lucerne next week - Gilles Bertran de Balanda, Florian Angot, Philippe Leoni, Christian Hermon and Patrice Deleveau - and he is feeling very upbeat indeed. "It has lifted our hearts to win again here in Rome" he said, "today my team showed wonderful spirit".

And there was another special occasion at the Piazza di Siena today when Mr John Hales, owner of Nick Skelton's ride Arko 111, was presented with the FEI Owner of the Year Award for the second year in succession. The bronze sculpture produced by artist Carolyn Wallace is presented annually to the owner whose horse obtains the highest number of points during the year based on the FEI Gandini World Jumping Rankings.

RESULT:
1. France 4 faults - Haxelle Dampierre (Pierre Jarry) 0/4, Inedite de Balme (Simon Delestre) 12/0, Gabelou des Ores (Stephan Lafouge 0/0, JPC Modesto Equifoam (Jean Marc Nicolas) 0/DNS.
2. Great Britain 16 faults - Marius Claudius (Robert Smith) 0/4, Arko (Nick Skelton) 0/4, Omelli (Tim Gredley) 8/4, Insul Tech Portofino (Michael Whitaker) 4/4.
2. USA 16 faults - Vegas (Christine McCrea) 4/4, Tarco (Candice King) 0/8, Neuville (Molly Ashe) 0/8, Miss Independent (Laura Kraut) 4/0.
4. Ireland 20 faults - Baltimore (Ryan Crumley), Heritage Transmission (Marion Hughes) 16/4, SIEC Hippica Kerman (Cameron Hanley) 0/00, Panthera (Peter Charles) 4/16.
5. Italy 28 faults - Jeckerson Kapitol d'Argonne (Emiio Biocchi) 4/0, Loro Piana Joyau D;Opal (Gianni Govoni) 8/12, Hariane d'Authieux (Natale Chiaudani) Elim/0, Loro Piana Albin (Juan Carlos Garcia) 0/16.
5. Switzerland 28 faults - Lea C (Willi Melliger) 0/4, Peu a Peu (Daniel Etter) 4/12, Plot Blue (Werner Muff) 8/4, Ilton Daye (Hansueli Sprunger) 12/8.
5. Germany 28 faults - Aboyeur (Heinrich Hermann Engemann) 4/8, Carino (Ulrich Kirchhoff) 18/0, Countess G (Mylene Diederichsmeier) 8/8, Legurio (Franke Sloothaak) 4/4.
5. Sweden 28 faults - Grandina (Rolf-Goran Bengtsson) 12/8, H&M Magic Bengtsson (Peder Frederickson) 0/8, Calibra (Lotta Schultz) 12/0, Nostramus (Svante Johansson) 0/12.
5. The Netherlands 28 faults - Exquis Oliver Q (Harry Smolders) 0/4, Gran Corrado (Yves Houtacker) 8/8, Eurocommerce Vancouver (Wim Schroder) Elim/16, Nouvelle (Wout-Jan Van der Schans) 4/4.

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE WITH FEI 2006 : LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 3 IN ROME:

1. Germany - 21.5
2. USA - 20
3. France - 17
4. Great Britain - 13
5. Switzerland - 9
6. Ireland - 6
7. The Netherlands- 5.5
8. Sweden - 5

SAMSUNG SUPER LEAGUE - NATIONAL PRIDE, INTERNATIONAL PASSION!

For all information about the Samsung Super League with FEI at the Piazza di Siena in Rome, Italy on Friday 26 May check out WEBSITE www.fise.it or contact Press Officer Caterina Vagnozzi at email c.vagnozzi@iol.it or Tel: +39 0636858321.