What a pity for the masses of French fans congregated in around the historic Parc de Princes.

Having undoubtedly delivered the best World Cup ever from the point of view of the stadia and support, the team once again fluffed their lines in the face of their nemesis, Argentina.

Les Bleus have now lost to the Pumas on six of the last seven occasions, the only victory coming by a single point in Marseille.

This match was even more of a nightmare for Bernard Laporte's men than the 17-12 loss on the opening day of the tournament. Obviously charged up for a farewell performance from the opening whistle, they failed to keep their composure in a physical encounter, and ended up on the wrong end of a 34-10 drubbing.

The Pumas certainly deserved that scoreline. After shocking many with their run to the semi-finals, they perhaps saved their best performance for last.

Today they survived a spirited opening from the French before coming back into the game in style, eventually brushing their hosts aside with ease with a stunning mix of forward power and fluid running behind the pack.

So, it's goodbye Bernard Laporte, who now moves into politics on the back of this failure.

It's also goodbye, probably, to captain Rafael Ibanez.
His last touch in an international match? An ugly stamp in the dying moments of the opening period that saw him sent to the sin-bin, never to emerge.