Kiwis bluster past Tonga to set up World Cup final spot

New Zealand has marched into the World Cup final on the back of a clinical second-half performance to beat Tonga 34-10 in difficult conditions in Newcastle on Saturday night.

The Kiwis fought back from a 10-6 deficit late in the first half and put it together when it mattered, while riding the advantage of wind gusts upwards of 60km/h.

Kalyn Ponga showed no hesitation in his return from a broken arm and it paid immediate dividends, the fullback attacking both sides of the ruck in New Zealand’s first set before setting up Briton Nikora for the opening try on a short side play.

The two teams settled into an arm wrestle and it was the Kiwis winning the middle of the ruck, but Isaiya Katoa’s kicking game with the breeze behind him kept Tonga in the fight.

Tonga eventually earned a chance to camp on the New Zealand line but they struggled to find a way through from close quarters and lacked polish on last play.

Fittingly, it was a stunning long-range try that eventually got Tonga their first points.

After a last-tackle bomb from Jahrome Hughes was allowed to bounce, Jojo Fifita took the ball and swerved through a broken defensive line before finding Tui Lolohea alongside him.

The ball moved out to speedster Tolu Koula, who powered past the cover defence, allowing him to draw and pass to Fifita to finish the movement under the sticks.

Demitric Vaimauga had visions of adding to the lead soon after when he picked up a loose ball, floated across field and showed it inside and outside before slicing through, only for Ponga to stop him metres short of the line with a superb one-on-one tackle.

It didn’t hold Tonga off for long as they received a scrum after the following play, then shifted to their left off the back of it to put Fifita in for his second to give his side a 10-6 lead after 32 minutes.

But it was New Zealand going to half-time with a 12-10 lead after a late try to Dane Gagai when Lehi Hopoate failed to clean up a Hughes grubber under pressure from chaser Ponga.

The second half started at a frantic pace to match the gale that had whipped up behind the Kiwis, with Tonga making multiple breaks through the middle and New Zealand returning in an end-to-end opening.

The blustery conditions were causing all sorts of problems for Tonga, completely nullifying Katoa on last tackle and causing several kicks to fly over Tonga fullback Hopoate’s head, gifting the Kiwis ideal field position.

Casey McLean ultimately put another exclamation mark on his stunning World Cup campaign with a piece of individual brilliance to extend New Zealand’s lead in the 48th minute and Hughes added his name to the scoresheet five minutes later with his own dummy and run and suddenly the score had blown out to 24-10.

The Kiwis’ World Cup final berth was all but sealed when Xavier Willison crashed over in the 70th minute before Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad downed an Erin Clark cross-field chip on the buzzer.

New Zealand's only injury concern going into the final will be an ankle issue for prop Naufahu Whyte, who left the contest early in the second half and did not return.