The camaraderie and joviality of Martin Johnson?s testimonial dinner on Tuesday night quickly dissipated the following day as South Africa and France played out a nasty, petulant semi-final.

Wednesday?s game was punctuated with mini fracas and foul language and France?s ultimate demise was in no small measure due to the three sin-bins they suffered, leaving them playing effectively half the match with just 14 players.

And even after the game the shenanigans continued with opposing players inviting each other to ?finish this off somewhere quiet? and media interviews with captains and coaches being interrupted by other players with profanities and threats.

If anyone was still naively operating under the illusion that the World Rugby Classic is just a boys? drinking holiday, that view should have been well and truly dismissed by 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

?I was not happy with a lot of what they were doing,? said South African legend and coach Francois Pienaar, who had spent most of the second half in a verbal battle with the touch judge over the French tactics.

?There was a lot of dirty stuff going on.

?I think the referee did the right things. If you are not allowed to kick penalties then if these guys are constantly spoiling the ball the sin-bin is the only solution.?

French skipper Olivier Roumat was less controversial in his remarks, although team-mates who approached him did urge him to pass onto the media some rather crude comments about the Springboks.

?Yes, it was a hard game,? said Roumat, who diplomatically refused to be drawn into the nonsense being spouted by his less media savvy ? and more emotional ? team-mates.

?But I think the better team won in the end.

?We gave them too much space and they are a very good side. I hope South Africa win the final.?

Gombey dancing had delayed the start of the game but once it began the South Africans wasted no time and had points on the board after just 48 seconds.

Winger Jan Harm van Wyk, arguably the most explosive player in the tournament, broke down the right wing and was in under the posts while fans who braved the windy conditions were still taking their seats.

In a game heavily reliant on the forwards, especially in the opening period, there were plenty of penalties going both ways and the odd swinging arm and handbag incident following the more physical encounters.

Stephane Carriere became the first to be sin-binned for offside in the ruck with nine minutes on the clock although Les Bleus galliantly coped without him for his ten minutes left waiting behind the posts. And within a minute of him returning the French were back in the game with flanker Laurent Subreville going over ? the missed conversion leaving the game at 7-5.

Just seconds before half-time Wilfred Moulinec became the next Frenchman to feel the referee?s wrath but this time the man disadvantage was too much for them and three minutes into the second stanza Pieter Rossouw went over.

Ten minutes later, with the French on the receiving end of their third sin-bin, van Wyk went over for his second of the match ? and fourth of the tournament ? to end the game as a contest.

A French consolation try in the dying minutes rounded off the scoring but it was too little, too late to stop the pre-tournament favourites reaching the final as expected.