• October 3 down the years

Timid England show All Blacks too much respect

Rob Andrew and Will Carling endured a tough afternoon against the All Blacks © Getty Images

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1991
Twickenham staged the opening match of rugby union's second World Cup. But it didn't end the way England hoped. They were up against reigning champions New Zealand - but even so they should have gone into the game with more confidence. Instead they fell into the old trap of showing the All Blacks too much respect. Their captain Will Carling admitted that when the game started he watched his opposite number Craig Innes to see what he did, rather than playing his own game. Even so, England led 12-9 at half-time thanks to three penalties from Jonathan Webb and a Rob Andrew drop goal. But then winger Chris Oti ran the wrong line in defence, and New Zealand flanker Michael Jones scored the only try of the match. In New Zealand's last World Cup match before this, he'd scored the first try in the final (June 20). England lost 18-12, and although they but had no trouble reaching the quarter-finals, they had to face France in Paris (October 19).

On the same date in the 1999 World Cup, Scotland also lost their opening match, also at home to one of the Southern Hemisphere giants. At half-time, they led South Africa 16-13 at Murrayfield, and their kickers were on form. Kenny Logan converted both Scotland tries and added four penalties, while Gregor Townsend dropped a goal. But even 29 points weren't enough against a Springbok team who scored 46 after rampaging through the second half. Jannie de Beer kicked two penalty goals and converted five of South Africa's six tries, two of them scored by the Venter brothers André and Brendan. De Beer also put the boot into England in the quarter-finals (October 24).

1926
The longest-lasting world record in athletics. Actually it's a very artificial stat. In 1928 the inaugural women's 800 metres final at the Olympics was a shock to the men in charge of track and field. The sight of women exhausting themselves was too much for these sensitive souls. So the big international events and most national championships excluded women from any distance above 200 metres (yes, really) until 1960. So when Britain's Violet Piercy ran a marathon today, her time lasted until the girls were allowed to actually sweat again - though it wouldn't be allowed for record purposes today: it was a solo run, not a race. Covering the classic Polytechnic Harriers route from Windsor to Chiswick, Piercy finished in 3 hours 40 minutes 22 seconds. No woman ran a faster Marathon on an verified course until 1964, when another British runner, Dale Greig, started a race on the Isle of Wight four minutes before a field of 67 men. She ran nearly 13 minutes faster than Piercy, whose record had lasted 37 years 233 days.

1976
Baseball legend Hank Aaron played his last Major League game, 22 years after his first. Batting for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 5-2 defeat by the Detroit Tigers, he scored his 2297th run, still an MLB record. He was more famous, of course, for overtaking Babe Ruth's total of home runs (April 8 1974).

1900
The first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Golf was included at the Games only twice: in 1904 (September 24) and here in Paris, where the Olympics were no more than a sideshow to a world fair. Americans won both the golf events: Charles Sands the day before, and now Margaret Abbott. Americans occupied the first three places, partly because - according to Abbott - the local French girls played in high heels and tight skirts. Abbott shot 47 for the nine holes, two strokes fewer than Polly Whitter, with Daria Pratt on 53. It was the only women's golf tournament ever held at the Olympics.

Marvin Hagler overcame Mustapha Hamsho to retain his undisputed middleweight title © PA Photos

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1953
The Ryder Cup was held at Wentworth. It was a smaller event in those days, with just twelve matches, including eight singles. Britain & Ireland, trying to win the trophy for the first time in twenty years, lost three of the four foursomes on the opening day but did better in today's singles. Eric Brown beat US captain Lloyd Mangrum, and Harry Weetman came from five holes down to beat the great Sam Snead, so the whole thing came down to the match between young Peter Alliss, later a famous TV commentator, and Joe Turnesa. Alliss led at the 17th but conceded the hole after driving out of bounds. He did even worse at the last, fluffing a wedge shot and missing two putts, which allowed Turnesa to halve the hole with a six. The USA won 6½-5½ and kept the Cup for another four years (October 5).

1981
In boxing, four world title fights took place on the same day, including two in the same ring.

At Rosemont in Illinois, Marvin Hagler kept the undisputed middleweight title he'd taken from Britain's Alan Minter (September 27). Syrian-born Mustapha Hamsho was a brawler who'd earned his shot at Hagler with a disputed split decision over Minter in June. In tonight's battle of the southpaws, Hamsho was no match for Hagler's painful jabs, and a clash of heads left him with a cut eye in the third round. The referee stopped it in the 11th. In a rematch three years later, Hamsho lasted less than three.

On the same bill, unbeaten heavyweight James Tillis spent the first ten rounds dancing away from Mike Weaver rather than trying to take the WBA title away from him. In the 12th round, Tillis switched to southpaw and caught Weaver with a right hand, then traded punches for the rest of the fight. But he was too far behind on points and lost a unanimous decision. The following year, Weaver lost the title in less than a round (December 10).

Like Tillis, young Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini was unbeaten in his twenty professional fights. And he became WBA lightweight champion the following year. But tonight in Atlantic City, he was up against one of the greats and couldn't get near enough for any booming. Alexis Argüello had taken the WBC lightweight title from Scotland's Jim Watt (June 20), and now he used his longer reach to sting Mancini all night. The kid kept trying to come in and fire his combinations, but Argüello's counter-punches wore him down and the fight was stopped in the 14th.

Over in Buenos Aires, Sergio Palma kept his WBA super-bantamweight title by easily outpointing Vichit Muangroi-et. This was the only defeat in the Thai boxer's pro career, but it consisted of a mere 14 bouts. This was only the 8th.

1920
American football saw the first games between teams sanctioned by the NFL, or the American Pro Football Association as it was called at the time. A game between an NFL team and an independent club had taken place in September, when the Rock Island Independents from Illinois thrashed the St Paul Ideals 48-0. And the Independents played again today. But their 45-0 win over the Muncie Flyers started after the one in Dayton, Ohio, where the Dayton Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14-0. The first NFL touchdown was scored by Dayton's Louis Partlow, followed by a second from Francis Bacon. George 'Hobby' Kinderdine added the extra point each time.

1982
David Hinz won the Detroit Marathon in 2 hours 17 minutes 41 seconds. But the performance of the day ended some time after him, when Scott Weiland came home in under five hours - running backwards.

2010
Workforce became only the sixth horse in history to win both the Epsom Derby and the Prix d l'Arc de Triomphe in the same year as it triumphed in a thriller at Longchamp.

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