French passion and fire combined with superb defence knocked favourites New Zealand out of the World Cup on Sunday, All Blacks coach Graham Henry said after a 20-18 defeat at the Millennium Stadium.
In an epic quarter-final, France hit back from a 13-0 deficit to leave New Zealand still waiting for a second World Cup success after they won the inaugural tournament in 1987.
Henry said the All Blacks had not taken scoring chances at decisive moments but conceded the better side had won.
"The French played particularly well defensively, were pretty astute in their gameplan and took their opportunities," Henry told a news conference.
"We are disappointed but realistic and understand the better side won on the day and a lot of credit goes to them. We gave it our best shot and it wasn't good enough. That's the fact of the matter and we have to live with it, accept it and get on."
New Zealand enjoyed almost three quarters of the possession throughout a pulsating 80 minutes but scored just two tries, one in each half from Luke McAlister and Rodney So'oialo.
France lost flanker Serge Betsen to an early head injury, the veteran knocked cold by a stray knee. Their confrontational stance to New Zealand's haka -- staring down their opponents within breathing distance -- was replicated on the pitch as the French put their bodies on the line time and time again.
Asked where the game had been lost, a downbeat Henry said: "That last pass close to the goalline... we knocked the ball on or did not secure it properly.
"The French took their opportunities. We had a large territorial advantage in the second half, had opportunities ... didn't quite finish it. I guess from the All Black point of view that was our Achilles heel.
"From the French point of view, I think they defended superbly. They certainly played with a huge amount of passion and fire and it was a different French side to the one we have played in recent times."
Captain Richie McCaw summed up the mood in the All Blacks dressing room, saying: "The pain in the eyes and the body language sums it up. Some of the guys have probably played their last test for the All Blacks, that hurts as well.
"It's hard to put in words, there are some pretty shattered guys as you would expect.
"I'm at a loss to say why we didn't put our game together as we would have liked. You can make a whole lot of excuses but the boys were ready to play today, but we just couldn't put it out there."
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