Quite bizarre this match but then France were involved. They fell 19-14 against Tonga who should have won by 20 points if they'd taken half the tries they created.
Tonga were ready from the start and while their scrum was a bit erratic, they were determined and inventive enough togive their rivals a comprehensive defeat.
France's bonus point for finishing inside a seven point margin confirmed they would advance to the quarterfinals despite any other results in the last round. But they made torrid work of that.
Referee Steve Walsh awarded France an injury-time penalty in front of the posts which would have guaranteed them the bonus point. Instead they called for a scrum and spun the ball wide for Vincent Clerc to score after a TMO decision. Work that out.
All the praise went to the men in red who were ranked 13th in the world at the start of the tournament. They dominated their Six Nations opponents with halfback Taniela Moa the key figure in creating much of the damage with his mix of silky passing, attacking kicks and powerful bursts.
Either side of the intermission, Tonga faced problems when Walsh, after advice from his assistant Dave Pearson, sinbinned Sukanaivalu Hufanga who had pounded Clerc in a powerful and awkward tackle.
Tonga were not deterred. They kept up their feisty expression while France remained strangely fractured and disorganised. They did not look as if they believed they could win and Sione Kalamafoni preyed on that listlessness and used them as tackle bags.
When French utility Fabrice Estabanez was carded for a lifting tackle, Tonga eased further ahead with two penalties on a great evening for the men clad in the fiery red kit from the Kingdom of Tonga.
French coach Marc Lievremont drank alone that night as his squad scattered throughout the capital and the travelling media piled scorn on the Tricolores. The rugby pictures were bleak yet the coach spoke of the beautiful adventure continuing, one he was probably not prepared for as France somehow reached the final.
