SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Tonga edged Samoa in a Rugby League World Cup thriller on the third weekend of the tournament to earn a semi-final against New Zealand with their fellow Pacific islanders moving on to play perennial world champions Australia for a place in the final.
In a clash instantly branded a World Cup classic on Sunday, Tonga skipper Addin Fonua-Blake ran through his fellow prop Spencer Leniu for the winning try eight minutes from time to settle a blockbuster contest and complete the group stage.
The sellout crowd of 29,411 -- a Western Sydney Stadium record -- created a carnival atmosphere as Australia's Pasifika communities came out in force to attest their deep passion for their teams and the 13-man game.
England, who beat Papua New Guinea 34-12 in their final group game on Friday, had needed a much bigger Tonga victory to progress and will be unrepresented in the semi-finals for the first time.
Heavyweights Australia and New Zealand cantered through their final group games with the Kangaroos thrashing the Cook Islands 66-6 in Townsville on Saturday after the Kiwis had taken apart Fiji 78-0 on the Gold Coast.
Australia have won 12 of the 16 World Cups and edged the Kiwis in the tournament opener, but the quality of New Zealand's play so far suggests that they are serious title contenders this year.
They will first have to get past Tonga, who have a team studded with State of Origin forwards in front of a backline marshalled by halfback Isaiya Katoa, whose accurate goalkicking proved the difference in Sunday's clash against Samoa.
"This crew can do anything. We've got plenty of improvement left in us," said Tonga coach Kristian Woolf.
"Obviously going to be a tough game. (New Zealand) have probably been the most dominant team in the tournament so far."
FRENCH GO HOME WINLESS
The first semi-final in Newcastle on Saturday will be followed on Sunday by a rematch of the 2022 final when the powerful Samoans will be looking to upset the tournament hosts at Sydney Football Stadium.
Fiji, the Cook Islands, PNG, Lebanon and France joined England in exiting the tournament after being largely outclassed by the powers of the game over the three weeks of the group stage.
Lebanon and France did, however, serve up the most thrilling climax to a game of the tournament so far as the Tonga and Samoa fans were taking their seats at Western Sydney Stadiumfor the late match in Sunday's double-header.
Trailing by two points with seconds remaining, the French fielded a long goalline dropout and fullback Arthur Mourgue hammered a two-point field goal from 40 metres to level up the scores and force golden-point extra time.
Mourgue thought he had secured an extra-time upset with another field goal but it was ruled out for an infringement, and Lebanon had the next chance to settle the contest with a long-range penalty.
Alex Conti's kick was wide of the mark and, with seconds left in the first period of extra time, Mourgue tried a kick-and-chase out of defence.
The ball went straight into the arms of Abbas Miski, however, and the Lebanon forward trundled over the line to secure his team a 24-20 win and send the French home winless.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
