All Blacks v France commentary

80.38 - FULLTIME, New Zealand 40 France 13 - The game is over and the All Blacks seal third place at the 2003 Rugby World Cup by six tries to one.

77.55 - With the result well and truly sewn up, the game is getting scrappy as both teams throw the ball around counting down to the final whistle.

76.17 - Carter has to come back on as Mauger is blood binned with a cut to his mouth.

75.45 - John Mitchell is clearing the benches and Caleb Ralph comes on as Carter heads to the sideline. Ralph lines up at centre with Mauger going back into second five.

72.42 - TRY. Marty Holah shows great power to drive his way over from 10m out through a handful of tacklers. Carter misses his first shot at goal to leave the score 40-13 to New Zealand.

71.00 - Mark Hammett takes over as All Black hooker as Keven Mealamu comes off.

70.31 - The All Blacks batter the French line but the defence holds them out just metres short until they knock on.

68.20 - Carl Hoeft comes on for Dave Hewett at prop for the All Blacks as they swing onto attack again.

65.35 - Frederic Michalak replaces Merceron as the French first five.

62.49 - Howlett goes close to grabbing another try for the All Blacks when he runs onto a Spencer chip kick metres from the French tryline only to lose the ball in a tackle as he tried to dive across.

58.14 - TRY. The points keep coming with Muliaina dotting down for the All Blacks' fifth try. Simple draw and pass through the backline creates an overlap for him out wide on the right and Carter continues his 100 per cent night to make it 35-13.

56.47 - The two quick tries seem to have taken the fight out of the French and the All Blacks are making all the play.

52.14 - TRY. The All Blacks are in again after catching the French napping with a quick line out for Steve Devine and Howlett to put Brad Thorn in under the posts. Carter adds the extras to suddenly make it 28-13.

50.17 - TRY. Joe Rokocoko finishes off an end-to-end movement to push the All Blacks' lead back out to 21-13 after the conversion from Carter.

49.26 - The French break up to the All Blacks' 22m but kick the ball to Howlett who passes to Muliaina to go on the counter-attack.

47.20 - Brad Thorn replaces Ali Williams at lock.

43.07 - One of the All Blacks' best players so far, Jerry Collins, is substituted for Marty Holah before the restart. He appears uninjured and looks far from happy at the decision as he walks off the field.

41.57 - TRY. A simple pass is dropped by Mauger inside the All Black 22m and the French grab the ball to score through winger Pepito Elhorga a few phases later. Yachvili's conversion makes it 14-13 to the All Blacks.

40.01 - Merceron begins the second half for France with Tony Marsh having been replaced at centre by Brian Liebenberg.

40.19 - HALFTIME, New Zealand 14 France 6. The whistle goes for halftime with the game having evened out slightly, although the All Blacks still look much more dangerous with the ball in hand.

34.01 - DROP GOAL. A second penalty gets the French up to the New Zealand 22m and Yachvili bangs over a left footed drop goal to cut the All Blacks' lead to 14-6.

30.37 - Another penalty to the All Blacks for the French diving in at the breakdown gets them back into the French 22m. A back-flick pass from Spencer goes to ground though and France get the ball back and are awarded a penalty to get out of their danger zone.

29.13 - The All Blacks get a lineout on the French 22m with a penalty for Joe Rokocoko being tackled in the air as he tried to pull in a midfield bomb but the throw in is not straight.

26.23 - French fullback Clement Poitrenaud comes off and is replaced by Nicolas Brusque.

25.20 - The All Blacks turn over the ball in a ruck to lose their scoring chance.

24.27 - The All Blacks' confidence is up and they are back to their game plan of moving the ball wide and running it from anywhere. A break out of deep in their own territory gets them a lineout just outside the French 22m.

20.00 - TRY. Howlett runs in the All Blacks' second try after a break on halfway from Mils Muliaina running onto another inside ball from Spencer. Carter converts to make it 14-3.

17.33 - An injured MacDonald leaves the field and is replaced by Daniel Carter who moves into second five while Mauger shifts to centre.

15.43 - PEN. French halfback Dmitri Yachvili takes over the kicking duties from Merceron and slots his first attempt from close to 40m to make it 7-3.

12.03 - CONV. Leon MacDonald slots the conversion from near the left sideline to make it 7-0 to New Zealand.

11.10 - TRY. Chris Jack crosses the line for the All Blacks after a break out from their own side of halfway. Spencer put Doug Howlett into space with an inside ball and Mauger carried on the move to 15m from the French line. Jerry Collins took the ball on from the breakdown and offloaded to an unmarked Jack to finish off.

9.13 - France have first scoring chance with a penalty to first five Gerald Merceron but he pushes it wide.

7.35 - France go close to scoring with their first real chance after a break on counter attack. The All Blacks spun the ball wide in their own 22m for Joe Rokocoko to break up the left touchline but he loses the ball passing it infield and the French grab it and go within 5m of the New Zealand tryline.

4.07 - The All Blacks have been making all the play so far and punch through the French defence on the 22m when Richie McCaw bursts onto a ball from Aaron Mauger, however, they knock on trying to keep the move going.

3.10 - The All Blacks get back into French territory and look to have an overlap out wide on the left but almost give away an intercept pass that luckily is put down by the French.

0.55 - The All Black forwards rumble the ball up to the 22m and Spencer puts up a bomb for their first attacking chance which is claimed as a mark by France.

0.20 - Referee Chris White blows game on and Carlos Spencer kicks off down into the French 22m. The French gather it in and punt downfield to give the All Blacks possesion inside their opponent's half.

0.00 - Welcome to Telstra Stadium in Sydney for the Rugby World Cup's third-place playoff between the All Blacks and France. The threatened thunder storms have not arrived at present and it is a warm, humid night as the national anthems ring out.

Full World Cup coverage