The Baby Blacks were pummelled 55-31 by France in a free-flowing semifinal in Cape Town.
They found themselves 20 points adrift at halftime then down to 14 men when winger Stanley Solomon had a yellow card upgraded to red for head-to-head contact in the tackle.
France were lethal with any ball they had, and provided two of the star turns in hat-trick hero Mathis Castro-Ferreira at No 8 and classy first five Hugo Reus, who landed nine of his 10 attempts at goal.
New Zealand had won the pool clash 27-26 with a late penalty but France shot to a 14-0 lead inside 10 minutes yesterday.
A penalty try to go with a French yellow card threatened to shift the momentum but the French regained their buffer when Castro-Ferreira scored his first try.
Otago’s rising star then grabbed his moment in the sun.
Halfback Dylan Pledger has had an exceptional tournament and he got New Zealand back in the game with a lovely 30m dart to score next to the posts.
Things went a bit pear-shaped after that as France pushed to a 34-14 lead at the break and were out of sight at 41-14 when Solomon got his marching orders.
New Zealand scored a couple of decent tries to keep things interesting but the French — big and skilled all round— proved far too good.
They will play England, who beat Ireland 31-20 yesterday, in the final.
The Baby Blacks will play Ireland in the third-fourth playoff on Saturday.
