Hosts France provided the second shock of the day at the World Cup beating New Zealand, overwhelming favourites for the title, 20-18 at the Millennium Stadium and setting up a semi final clash with holders England.

New Zealand, who were facing their first real test of the tournament after cruising through a group that included Scotland and Italy, started strongly racing out to a 13-0 lead before the interval.

But France turned the match around in the second half helped by the sin binning of All Black try scorer Luke McAlister and the introduction of substitute fly half Frederic Michalak to finish the match strongly.

The opening stages were expectedly close with both sides attempting to stamp their authority on the match but France suffered a huge blow with just five minutes on the clock when Serge Betsen was hit in the side of the head by a knee and lost consciousness for several seconds.

Although the medical team worked quickly to tend to Betsen, the France flanker was clearly stunned and disorientated being helped off the field as his Biarritz team mate Imanol Harinordoquy came on.

France had the first chance to get on the scoreboard when another Biarritz man Damien Traille attempted an ill advised drop goal from distance but the ball fell well wide gifting New Zealand possession.

After an initially slow start the All Blacks began to make up some ground in the French half with Jerry Collins and McAlister doing most of the leg work eventually drawing the penalty from France.

The ever-reliable boot of Dan Carter put the first points on the board as the All Blacks grew visibly in confidence.

McAlister was again at the centre of the action splitting the French defence in two after receiving the ball from Carter. McAlister was hauled down but Sitiveni Sivivatu received the recycled ball and offloaded to Ali Williams who powered over the line.

The decision was referred to the Third Match Official who adjudged Williams to have a foot in touch and awarded the French a five metre scrum.

But it was only a temporary respite for the French as McAlister again exploited the gap in the French defence finding Collins on his outside. The Wellington flanker carried the ball to within five metres of the tryline before putting the pass back inside for the waiting McAlister who had only to fall over the line to secure the five points.

Carter added the conversion to cap a very successful first quarter for the All Blacks.

France had another chance to reduce the arrears when Collins was penalised for being offside but Lionel Beauxis missed wide of the right post letting New Zealand off the hook. To add salt to French wounds Carter added another three points to the board converting a 45 metre penalty when Thierry Dusautoir was caught offside.

Another offside infringement, this time by Keith Robinson, allowed Les Bleus a second penalty attempt but Jean-Baptiste Elissalde also sent the ball too far right before Beauxis finally got France off the mark with the last kick of the half sending a penalty through the posts when Williams handled the ball in the ruck.

France came out for the second half with a renewed spirit enjoying a sustained possession in the opening stages. Beauxis spotted the gap in the New Zealand defence putting up the chip for Jauzion to chase but the ball ran through and the All Blacks touched down.

Referee Wayne Barnes brought the action back, however, after spotting McAlister and Jauzion collide off the ball and sent the New Zealand scrum half to the sin bin while awarding France the penalty.

Beauxis doubled the tally for France before looking to make the All Blacks pay for their missing man. After a couple of minutes of New Zealand possession, where they attempted to keep the ball deep in the French half without actually doing much with it, France countered through Harinordoquy. The giant flanker was hauled down just short of the line but managed to maintain possession. The recycled ball found its way to Dusautoir who skipped through a gaping hole in the Kiwi defence to touch down for the first French try.

Beauxis added the extra two points to complete the comeback as France drew level on 13-13 with New Zealand with 25 minutes left on the clock.

Crucially for the All Blacks Dan Carter limped from the field with a recurrence of the calf injury that had made him a doubt for the match to be replaced by Nick Evans while McAlister also came back onto the field having served his time in the sin bin.

Despite the massive loss of Carter, New Zealand continued to pressure the French defence with substitute Brendon Leonard and McAlister combining in an attempt to create the moment of brilliance that they needed to get back in the match.

It was Sivivatu who once again played a major part in the creation of the try taking the All Blacks to within five metres of the try line before offloading to Rodney So'oialo, who forced his way over the line. But Evans missed the conversion leaving New Zealand just the five points ahead of France.

As Cedric Heymans spilled a comparatively easy Evans chip across field the French looked like they may fall apart but a forward pass by Joe Rokocoko allowed Les Bleus the opportunity to bring on Michalak, clearly looking for retribution after failing apart during his first World Cup four years ago.

With his first touch of the ball Michalak, receiving what looked suspiciously like a forward pass, wriggled out of his tackle and broke down the left wing.

The flyhalf found Jauzion in support getting the ball away to his former Toulouse team mate who ran over for the easy score to draw level once again. Elissalde put France in the lead for the first time in the match, with just 10 minutes remaining, by adding the conversion.

Carter's replacement Evans limped off the field, Auckland Blues wing Isaia Toeava filled the gap, while New Zealand continued to throw every thing into their attack as they attempted to get back in the match.

But just like with the Wallabies in Marseille earlier, it was not to be New Zealand's day and when McAlister's drop goal attempt 30 seconds from time fell short of the mark, the French camp began to celebrate.

With the clock showing over 80 minutes France turned the ball over and Elissalde ran the width of the pitch before kicking into touch to ensure no mistake was made for the win.

France will now face England in a repeat of the semi final four years ago at the Stade de France next Saturday.

Pippa Davis / Eurosport