The Dutch finally broke their Aga Khan duck at the RDS yesterday, holding on to win by less than a fence from an Irish quartet that was left sharing the runner-up slot with Britain.
The French, who had more than justified their ante-post favouritism with four perfect rounds for the half-time lead, lost the plot in the second round and, without a clear to their name, slid to fifth behind the Germans.
Most disappointing of all, defending champions Italy never even made the cut and sat out the second round, obviously missing Guido Domin ici, who led them to victory last year. Dominici, who had been riding on Nations Cup teams earlier this year, died last month at the age of 40 after unsuccessful treatment for a brain tumour.
Although the Dutch had begun to stamp their dominance on the competition early in the second round - with a double clear from Ben Schroder and a total tally of just .25 for Carry Huis in't Veld - there was still a reasonable chance that the Irish, third after the break, could put in a bid for the top slot.
Army rider Capt Gerry Flynn, who got the call-up for Nations Cup duty following the withdrawal of the injured Peter Charles, improved at the second attempt for just one error, before a superb double clear from Marion Hughes and the home-bred Heritage Charlton raised Irish hopes.
However, when Jessica Kurten and Paavo repeated their four-faulter of the first round, even a zero from team captain Trevor Coyle could salvage only second. The Dutch stretched ahead in the final furlong without even having to call on the services of their number four, Jan Tops.
Coyle duly obliged with the wonderful stallion Cruising, whose fan club increases with every round he jumps, to leave the Irish sharing second with Britain on eight faults, just 3.5 adrift of the victorious Dutch.
Disappointing as it may have been for the home side to miss out by less than a fence, Irish chef d'equipe Tommy Wade was not too despondent at the result. "A lot of people had said that Marion Hughes's horse was just a flash in the pan at Hickstead, but we found out today that he's a real class act. We now have two worldclass horses on the team. What we need is two more."
Hughes and the home-bred Heritage Charlton produced two four-fault rounds in the British Nations Cup at Hick stead last month, but they had honed their performance to perfection for yesterday's Aga Khan and must now be a certainty for the team when it returns to Hickstead for the European championships in less than three weeks.
Trevor Coyle and Cruising, with considerably more Nations Cup mileage behind them, are also definites.