“Billy Twomey has been going very well with a super win in the St Gallen Grand Prix last weekend. However I want to be careful not to overuse his horse 'Je T'aime Flamenco' as he is still a very young horse. Cian O'Connor performed very well in La Baule, but his horse 'Complete' picked up an overreach injury in St. Gallen and won't be back in time for Rotterdam,” he said.

He said he was looking forward to a good showing from the combinations he was calling up.

“Cameron has been going well recently and he performed very solidly for us last year. Jessica is a world class rider and Quibell is a capable performer at this level. Capt. David O'Brien was the reserve in St. Gallen where Mo Chroi jumped some good rounds in the individual classes,” he said.

Robert Splaine concluded by acknowledging the need for an improvement in the team's performance as Ireland currently lies at the bottom of the Meydan league.

“We had high hopes in St Gallen but it didn't work out on the day which was frustrating. However the team morale remains high and I still believe we can be competitive in the series,” he said.