New Zealand’s dominance in rugby on the world stage resulted in a first on this day last year.

The All Blacks made history by becoming the first team to defend their Rugby World Cup title and the first to win for a third time as they beat Australia in the final at Twickenham.

After taking a 21-3 lead, New Zealand saw the Wallabies fight back to get within four points, but Dan Carter put over a crucial drop from 40 metres before slotting home a penalty kick to put the score out of reach.

It was a fairytale finish for Carter, who played his final game for New Zealand, as did legend Richie McCaw, who became the first All Blacks captain to lift the World Cup on foreign soil.

More memorable events on this day:

1908: The fourth Olympic Games come to an end in London.

1987: India’s Chetan Sharma claims the first hat-trick in the Cricket World Cup with the dismissal of three New Zealand batsmen at Nagpur.

1999: Mika Hakkinen wins the 50th Formula One championship.

2007: Ronald Koeman leaves PSV Eindhoven to take over as manager of Valencia.