Samoan second-rower Ben Te'o made a fool of coach John Ackland, scoring two tries and setting up two more in a blistering World Cup debut as his side thrashed France 42-10 at CUA Stadium.

Te'o had been overlooked for Samoa's two previous World Cup encounters but took full advantage of his Test debut with a match-turning performance that secured Samoa ninth place and handed France the wooden spoon in the 10-team tournament.

"I don't know why I didn't pick him (Te'o) for the first two games," admitted Ackland.

The Samoans dominated the opening 40 minutes by running in five tries to none followed by two more in second half for a 36-0 lead before the French made a late entry onto the scoreboard with two late four-pointers.

Te'o showed his brilliance throughout with sublime offloading, but he wasn't the only star.

Five-eighth Ben Roberts was named man of the match and forwards Tony Puletua and Kylie Leulua'i led the way with some brutal defence.

Te'o threw a well-timed offload for Francis Meli to score in the 12th minute and then brushed aside five defenders to score an outstanding solo try in the 24th minute.

He continued to torment the French with a one-handed offload that led to winger Misi Taulapapa scoring in the 38th minute.

Te'o then completed his superb game by bursting through for Samoa's sixth try just eight minutes after halftime.

"I've been eyeing this World Cup for a few years now and patiently waiting for my chance," Brisbane Broncos bound Te'o said.

"Unfortunately we didn't go on to the semis but this meant a lot to me, it's great for Samoa, to represent my father and where he's from so I really enjoyed it."

It was a highly disappointing end to the French campaign after their 42-6 belting from Fiji last week.

They spent most of the first half defending their tryline and only clicked into gear in the final 20 minutes with tries to Jerome Guisset (64th minute) and Sebastien Planas (68th).

France coach John Monie couldn't explain his side's spectacular failure after they had entered the tournament as one of the leading semi-final contenders.

"This is the first time I've coached a team where we only got in the 20-metre zone once in the first half," said Monie.

"That's sort of ridiculous stuff. We expected to do much better than that."

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