France knocked slow-starting England out of the World Cup in a dramatic quarter-final battle in Auckland.

The French, seemingly in disarray all week after their pool defeat to Tonga, surged into a 16-0 lead with first-half tries from Vincent Clerc and Maxime Medard. They now face Wales in the semi-final.

Former Sale star Ben Foden responded with a touchdown in a better second half for England but France edged further ahead with a drop goal from Francois Trinh-Duc.

Sale Shark wing Mark Cueto wrestled his way over the line for a second England try in the dying minutes but Martin Johnson's men were soundly beaten.

England had set a semi-final appearance as their minimum requirement in New Zealand and questions will now be asked over Martin Johnson's future as manager.

Afterwards Johnson said: "I thought when we had the ball we looked okay, but the thing that killed us was they scored two tries when we were under pressure. I think it was pretty soft defence from us there.

"We had a great opportunity before half-time but we didn't score and if you go in at 16-7 or 16-5 it's a different game.

"After Ben (Foden) scored you have to bounce back with another score. We had a great bit of pressure and I think we lost the ball when we tried to pass off the floor.

"You make it too hard for yourself at 16-0 but I am proud of the way the guys came back in the second half but they gave themselves too much to do."

But Johnson refused to accept that his side's campaign had never got off the ground.

"We got to the quarter-finals and won our pool (with a) 4-0 (record)," he said.

"The games in the pool were difficult. To play teams that don't look to attack like the French, who want to keep it close.

"It's brutal and that's how it ends, only one team goes away from a World Cup smiling, and that's the team that wins it.

"It was a winnable game and Ireland will be feeling the same right now, you get it wrong and we said you will be at home on Tuesday watching the semi-final on tv, and that's the world we are in."

Skipper Lewis Moody told ITV1: "We are just thoroughly disappointed. In the first 40 minutes France came out on top, we had some defensive lapses and it cost us massively.

"We stuck at it in the second half, and we had a chance towards the end of the first half we didn't take.

"It wasn't good enough and it's thoroughly disappointing for everyone in the squad and the fans, but credit to France they came out and performed."

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