Jung won aboard Sam FBW, a late replacement for Fischertakinou, but who he had won on at London 2012.

Fischertakinou had contracted an infection last month, with a total of 40.9 points at the Olympic Equestrian Centre

France's Astier Nicolas andPiaf de B’Neville took the silver medal with 48.0, points and the United States Phillip Dutton won bronze on Mighty Nice with 51.80. 

Jung’s was one of only two riders sitting in the top 10 to clear in the final deciding showjumping round.

"It's the second time with [gelding Sam FBW] and that's made it a bit more special," said the 34-year-old.

"He's a very fantastic horse and I'm absolutely lucky that I can ride him.

"He can climb every hill, he can jump every fence."

Australia’s Chris Burton found himself in third place before the final round but he had the last two fences down on Santano II.

New Zealand’s Clarke Johnstone could have claimed the bronze medal if he had had a clear round on Balmoral Sensation but the final part of the treble fell, putting him sixth behind Australia’s Sam Griffiths.

Griffiths went clear on Paulank Brockagh for fourth and Burton in fifth.

It ultimately went the way of Dutton who afterwards said: "I wasn't actually expecting medal today. 

"I was pretty happy with fourth. 

"But now I'm pretty ecstatic about third."

Earlier in the day, France clinched the team eventing crown with defending champions Germany in silver and Australia slipping from the overnight lead to bronze.

As the final moments played out, the Germans loomed large on the horizon when Sandra Auffarth, Ingrid Klimke and Jung posted three superb clears to pile the pressure on the three teams ahead of them - France, New Zealand and Australia.

The French did not flinch though, and a foot-perfect run from Nicolas meant they posted a finishing score of 169.0 penalties.

It was still all to play for with legendary double Olympic gold medallist Mark Todd coming in as anchorman for New Zealand, but a heart-wrenching 16 faults with Leonidas ll ended the Kiwi's chances. 

Their finishing score of 178.80 points left them almost three penalty points behind the Germans with only an Australian meltdown enough to keep them on the podium.

As it turned out, Burton picked up eight faults to round-up the Aussie finishing score to 175.30 for bronze, relegating New Zealand to fourth, 3.5 points adrift.

France’s victory comes despite the fact that the country has only won two previous team medals in eventing, a bronze in Rome in 1960 and gold at Athens in 2004.

"This is fantastic," said Nicolas.

"There was a lot of pressure going into this, and really I just had to do what I could for the team.

"But even though there was a lot of pressure, I didn’t let it bother me.

"I really enjoyed my round and I am very happy."

Equestrian action at Rio 2016 is due to continue tomorrow with the first day of the dressage individual and team grand prix.