Sports
New Zealand Teams Advance to Rugby League World Cup Finals
Both the men and women secured victories in Newcastle to reach the tournament finals.
By Headlinne · Compiled from reporting by RNZ, Guardian and BBC
New Zealand defeated Tonga 34-10 in Newcastle on Saturday to reach their first men's Rugby League World Cup final since 2013.
The victory followed a 32-0 win by the Kiwi Ferns over Fetu Samoa earlier in the day at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The double success puts New Zealand into position to chase their first men's world title since 2008.
Kalyn Ponga returned to the starting lineup just 23 days after breaking a bone in his left forearm.
Head coach Stacey Jones said the team did not know until late in the week whether the full-back would be cleared to play.
"Where sports science is these days – I saw what he had in his arm, the rod or plate was covering his whole arm," said Jones.
Tonga initially took the lead through two tries from Jojo Fifita after Briton Nikora opened the scoring for New Zealand.
New Zealand responded before halftime when Dane Gagai scored following a kick from Ponga, with Jamayne Isaako converting.
Weather conditions worsened in the second half as rain and strong winds impacted the match in Newcastle.
The Kiwis scored 22 unanswered points after the break to pull away from a competitive Tongan side.
"I was always determined to come back," said Ponga.
Tongan coach Kristian Woolf declined to blame the adverse weather for the defeat.
Kiwi Ferns player Apii Nicholls praised her team for holding off Samoa during a physical first half.
"I'm so proud, you know we knew it was going to be a tough game," said Nicholls.
New Zealand will face the winner of the second semi-final in next weekend's championship match.
Reporting from
- RNZ
Kiwi Ferns stop Fetu Samoa to claim Rugby League World Cup women's final spot
- The Guardian
New Zealand down spirited Tonga to reach Rugby League World Cup final
- BBC News
Kiwis reap rewards of gamble on 'freak of nature' Ponga
How this article was made: Headlinne wrote it with AI from the 3 reports listed above. Direct quotes are checked word for word against those reports, every number appears in at least one of them, and no other sentence is copied from one. Photos are from those reports and credited to them. Each report’s page on Headlinne links to the outlet’s original.