John Whitaker celebrated his half-century in style yesterday after helping the British team to its first Aga Khan victory since 1996.
Germany had finished über alles at Hickstead last week by a single penalty over the Americans, but it was the British who triumphed yesterday, relegating the Germans by that same slim margin at the finish.
"Was it important to beat the Germans?", the British team were asked at a champagne-fuelled press conference. "We beat them in 1945," Nick Skelton quipped, flushed with success after producing the only double clear of the day.
It was the 22nd Aga Khan win for Britain and three clears in the first round laid the foundations for yesterday's win. It was Michael Whitaker's final round that clinched it, however, even though he knocked the last and picked up a time fault, narrowing the winning margin.
"I lost my stirrup coming out of the combination," Michael Whitaker said afterwards, with his 3-year-old son Jack on his knee. "I jumped the last two without it, but I think I relaxed after the second last. I didn't know I'd had a time fault and when I saw five on the board I didn't know if we'd won or not. Luckily I had a bit of leeway today."
The clock also meant the difference between fifth and a share of third for the home side, when both Cian O'Connor and Capt Shane Carey added a time fault to their four from the fences. A stunning second round clear from Billy Twomey and Anastasia, who had faulted only once at the first time of asking, was the best Irish performance.
However, it could lift Ireland no higher than fifth, behind the Americans and Belgians, who shared third.
Fifth may have been a disappointment to the home crowd, but it was good enough for a climb off the bottom rung of the Samsung Super League ladder.
The Dutch are now bringing up the rear after finishing last of the eight teams yesterday, with Ireland two points ahead in seventh.
"I'm a wee bit more hopeful after today," Irish chef d'equipe Éamon Rice said about the chances of Ireland escaping relegation.
A longlist of 10 riders will be named today for the next super league round in Aachen, but the team will not be named until the week before the big German fixture.
So did the team miss Jessica Kürten? "Of course we could have done with her," Rice said. "We'd be only too happy to have her back, but it's up to her now. If she puts her name forward for Aachen it's a foregone conclusion. How would you not select her with her form and the calibre of her horses? She's favourite to be picked."