Harinordoquy wins line-out ball. (Getty Images)

By Alex Lowe, PA Sport, Melbourne

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France sent a chilling warning to the rest of the World Cup as they destroyed Ireland's dreams of a first semi-final appearance with an outstanding all-round display.

Dominant up front and ruthless through the backs, France were inspired by their sensational loose forward trio of Imanol Harinordoquy, Olivier Magne and Serge Betsen to run in four magnificent tries.

Fly-half Frederick Michalak turned in a faultless display with the boot to finish with 23 points from five penalties and successful conversions to the scores from Magne, winger Christophe Dominici, Harinordoquy and prop Jean-Jacques Crenca.

Ireland took until the 52nd minute to make any imprint on the game and although they eventually finished with three tries, two to Brian O'Driscoll and one to his centre partner Kevin Maggs, the game was over as a contest by half-time.

For the fourth occasion, and second by France, Ireland had been beaten in a World Cup quarter-final and captain Keith Wood, in his final international appearance, left the field with tears in his eyes.

Many of the French squad, linked powerfully arm-in-arm, had shed tears of their own as La Marseilles, a stirring anthem for a stirring occasion, rung around the Telstra Dome.

The hearts were pumping and the eyes misty, but Michalak, a young fly-half with immense talent and creative vision, began with the clearest head on the field.

Straight from a French lineout, the inventive Toulousain spied a gaping hole behind the Irish defence crucial moments before John Kelly.

Michalak arrowed his kick into the space, it bounced perfectly for Harinordoquy, the number eight who had been loitering with intent wide right, to snatch ahead of a desperate lunge from the Ireland winger.

From there, the try was a formality as Harinordoquy handed on to Tony Marsh and Magne was on hand to run the ball in and point to the crowd signalling, as it transpired, doom for Ireland.

The game was not yet three minutes old, Magne was punching the air and the omens were not good. Ireland, just as the South Africans did on this same ground against the All Blacks, simply could retain any meaningful possession.

Only Aurelien Rougerie's brush with the sideline, and then O'Driscoll's last-ditch tackle on the French wing, saved Ireland from dropping further behind.

But they were living off scraps and on the rare occasions Ireland held possession in French territory it was wasted by infringements at the breakdown or basic handling errors.

After Michalak, the tournament's leading points scorer, had slotted his first penalty, a loose pass from Ronan O'Gara proved fatal and Ireland were stung on the counter.

Again it was launched by the French loose forwards with Magne feeding back-row partner Betsen who simply waited for winger Dominici to burst through and extend France's lead to 17-0 after 29 minutes.

Broken, Ireland conceded again immediately, this time Harinordoquy applying the finishing touches as the French surged clear, underpinned by a faultless display from Michalak.

By half time it was 27-0 and the tears were now rolling from Irish eyes.

The mood darkened further when, after Michalak had slotted a third penalty, the superlative Magne unveiled skills of a midfielder to transfer the ball wide.

His back-row buddy Harinordoquy was there again and this time he fed loose-head prop Crenca to strike one for the front row.

Trailing 37-0, the Irish had lacked everything - the ball, composure, discipline - but not spirit.

Maggs burst through the defence on a magnificent angle, escaping the French back-row attentions for the first time, to finally get the scoreboard moving.

Girvan Dempsey and then Humphreys both wasted fine opportunities to keep that momentum flowing but O'Driscoll can always been relied up for a slice of magic.

His one-handed touchdown, following Humphreys' stab through was the highlight of Ireland's evening.

The French lost hooker Raphael Ibanez to the sin-bin but their pack remained dominant, Michalak carried on regardless and though O'Driscoll wriggled over again in the last minute, come full-time it was the French eyes that were smiling.

Teams

France: Brusque, Rougerie, Marsh, Jauzion, Dominici, Michalak, Galthie, Crenca, Ibanez, Marconnet, Pelous, Thion, Betsen, Magne, Harinordoqui, Brouzet.

Replacements: Liebenberg for Jauzion (52), Milloud for Crenca (73), Bru for Thion (65), Brouzet for Magne (65), Tabacco for Harinordoqui (75), Elhorga for Brouzet (78).

Not Used: Merceron.

Tries: Magne, Dominici, Harinordoqui, Crenca.

Cons: Michalak 4.

Pens: Michalak 5.

Sin Bin: Ibanez (64).

Ireland: Dempsey, S. Horgan, O'Driscoll, Maggs, Kelly, O'Gara, Stringer, Corrigan, Wood, Hayes, O'Kelly, O'Connell, S. Easterby, Gleeson, Costello.

Replacements: Humphreys for O'Gara (49), G. Easterby for Stringer (73), Horan for Corrigan (52), Miller for Costello (66).

Not Used: Byrne, O'Callaghan, A. Horgan.

Tries: Maggs, O'Driscoll 2.

Cons: Humphreys 3.

Att: 47,500

Ref: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).