THE IRISH show jumping team finished equal third of 11 teams at the Meydan Superleague Nations' Cup in Rome today (Friday) on a total of 12 faults.

The team was Billy Twomey, Cameron Hanley, Cian O'Connor and Darragh Kenny, with Twomey, Hanley and O'Connor all delivering a clear round apiece to help Ireland to its third place, which it shared with Spain.

The Cup was won by France on a total of four faults, while Great Britain finished second on eight faults.

Team Ireland Equestrian's show jumping manager Robert Splaine said after the competition: "I was very pleased with the result here today. Two of the riders, Cameron Hanley and Darragh Kenny, came from our La Baule Nations' Cup team of two weeks ago, and the other two, Cian O'Connor and Billy Twomey, made their first team appearances of the 2010 Meydan season, and performed very well indeed. It shows we have strength in quality."

Cameron Hanley and 'Southwind VDL' opened for Ireland with eight faults, but improved in the second round to deliver a zero score. Darragh Kenny and 'Obelix' had one fence down first time out and collected eight faults in the final round.

Cian O'Connor with his new mare 'K Club Lady' recorded four faults in the first round but went clear second time out, while anchorman Billy Twomey with 'Tinka's Serenade' had a zero score on his first outing and an unlucky four faults in the last round.

Rome was the second leg of the 2010 Meydan Series. Ireland finished sixth in the opening competition at La Baule, France two weeks ago.

The 2010 Meydan Series runs through eight competitions at the world's top show jumping venues and finishes at the Dublin Horse Show in August, when the four lowest-scoring teams will be relegated to the Promotional Nations' Cup league.
 

Cian O'Connor and K Club Lady in action at Rome today