Fly half Beauxis was imperious, as was Médard whether at full back or wing and that pack did it again.
Australia started at a gallop, scrum half Josh Holmes sneaking through for the first try after just two minutes, but the French hit back five minutes later through wing Florian Denos to level at 7-7 and on the quarter-hour mark Yohan Montes' try rewarded a period of sustained French dominance.
Australia, however, are nothing if not fighters and they hit back, first through Liam Bibo's boot and then with a try to hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau just before half time to go in with their noses in front.
Whatever Emile N'tamack said to his side at half time, it worked. The French pack came out fired up and physical but crucially controlled and that pressure up front gifted the remarkable Beauxis with a podium from which to conduct proceedings.
After just two minutes Florian Denos scored his second try to level the scores and Yann Fior grabbed a brace of his own. Australia were powerless to resist as the French, riding on the crest of their public's emotion, ensured that they scored not one point in the second half.
South Africa will be a step up again but if the right France turns up, there could be fireworks on Sunday.
Quotes
Loïc Jacquet, France captain: Fantastic. It's magic to do this in front of our people, our supporters, but also the way we did it. We're very pleased to make the final as it's here in France. It was a very tough match. We were behind at the break but we believed we could do it. We kept going forward and it paid off. The Boks will want to hold onto their title but we know that we can take it from them.
Emile Ntamak, France coach: It was a very tough win. We still made a lot of mistakes but today we were well worth it. We're getting better as the tournament goes on and the players are really starting to believe in themselves. They're very well prepared. We're looking for that perfect combination of physical muscle and speed. We can live with the South Africans, when we lost last time I told the guys that we had no choice but to play them again in the final.
Chris Hickey, Australia coach: They put a lot of pressure on us in the second half. It's always tough to lose, the players are disappointed but there's still one match to go.
James Horwill, Australia: We're gutted. We didn't stick at it and France took their chances. The game against New Zealand will be very special.