Samoa avoided an embarrassing last-place finish in the World Cup after smashing France by a 32-point margin at CUA Stadium.
The Pacific Island nation ran in eight tries to demoralise the outclassed French and end a mixed campaign on a high note.
Samoa had its sights set on a top-four finish and looked on track after upsetting fierce rivals Tonga in its opening pool match.
But a surprise loss to Ireland derailed those plans and sent them into a play-off for last against the Tricolors.
Samoa's second win of the tournament was never in doubt from the moment Matt Utai crossed in the sixth minute.
France had no answer to the islanders' flair and precision and conceded another try six minutes later when centre Francis Meli touched down after the ball was kept alive.
The French defence continued to fall off badly as Brisbane-bound Ben Te'o swatted off five would-be tacklers to plunge over 24 minutes in.
Ben Roberts landed his first conversion of the day to give Samoa a 14-0 lead.
Then came the try of the match.
The ball travelled through half a dozen sets of hands from 60metre out before skipper Tony Puletua improvised a pass back inside for George Carmont to score a great team try.
Roberts now had his radar going and landed the conversion for a 20-0 advantage.
Minutes after butchering a certain try, Samoa winger Misi Taulapapa squeezed over in the corner just before half-time as the lead increased to 24-0.
The tries kept coming in the second half, Te'o grabbing his double eight minutes in when he ran into a yawning gap close to the line.
Roberts pushed the scoreline out to 36-0 with a converted try on the hour.
Despite the lopsided scoreline, the French stuck to the task and was rewarded in the 64th minute when skipper Jerome Guisset crossed.
They were over again four minutes later through winger Sebastien Planas as Samoa's intensity dropped further.
Puletua picked up Samoa's eighth try a minute before the end.
