The All Blacks may have gone almost 16 months unbeaten but they suffered a rare defeat by the hands of a German football team at the Laureus Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur overnight.
The All Blacks, who became the first national rugby team to go unbeaten in the professional era, lost out to European football champions Bayern Munich for the sports team of the year category.
Barely 24 hours after they were crowned German champions for a 24th time with a record seven games to spare. Other nominees were the Brazil men's football team, history-making doubles tennis pair Bob and Mike Bryan, NBA champions the Miami Heat and Red Bull Motor Racing.
Multiple-time world champion swimmer Sophie Pascoe also missed out on award after being nominated for Sportsperson with a disability, which was won by French skiier Marie Bochet - a four time gold medalist in Sochi. Pascoe won four golds at the IPC World Championships last year.
Four-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel can add another trophy to his already-full mantel after being named the Laureus world sportsman of the year.
