France's path to the Rugby World Cup final

France's path to the Rugby World Cup final at Eden Park here on Sunday:

Pool A matches

Sept 10, Auckland (North Harbour): FRANCE 47 JAPAN 21

France got their World Cup campaign off to a shaky start against Japan, allowing the Asian champions to pull within four points in the second-half. but they hung on and three late tries from Lionel Nallet, Pascal Pape and Morgan Parra gave them a winning margin they hardly deserved.

Sept 18, Napier: FRANCE 46 CANADA 19

Parra kicked four conversions and five of his six penalties, including three in nine minutes before half-time that crucially saw France build a substantial lead they never ceded. Wing Vincent Clerc went on to score a hat-trick of tries.

Sept 24, Auckland (Eden Park): NEW ZEALAND 37 FRANCE 17

The All Blacks scored five tries to two for a convincing bonus point victory, as they partly atoned for their stunning quarter-final defeat by the French at the 2007 World Cup. Lievremont, under fire for resting a handful of key players for the game, pinpointed "schoolboy" errors in defence for his side's defeat.

Oct 1, Wellington: TONGA 19 FRANCE 14

Tonga pulled off one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history as they harried the French into a catalogue of errors. It was France, however, who progressed as pool runners-up behind New Zealand after bagging a losing bonus point.

Knockout matches Quarter-final

Oct 8, Auckland (Eden Park): FRANCE 19 ENGLAND 12

France played with pride and resolves to turn humiliation into to triumph as they downed tournament nemesis England after building up a 16-0 half-time lead. Half-backs Dimitri Yachvili and Parra controlled play, while Imanol Harinordoquy and Julien Bonnaire led an outstanding French pack.

Semi-final

Oct 15, Auckland (Eden Park): FRANCE 9 WALES 8

Three Parra penalties saw France just do enough to beat a Welsh side who, despite being reduced to 14 men after 19 minutes when captain Sam Warburton was shown the red card for a dangerous tip tackle on Clerc, scored the only try of the match.