Is Kalyn Ponga the best Rugby League player in the world?

To judge from this game, you would have to go a long way to find anyone better, although it’s always difficult at the highest level of the game to single out individuals.

But Ponga had broken his arm in the opening game of the World Cup on 15th October and here he was, just three weeks later, having undergone surgery that inserted a metal plate into the arm, turning out once more for the Kiwis, wearing number 21 but starting the game at fullback and showing the doubters, who had refused to believe he could return so quickly from such a serious injury, that they were wrong.

And it was highly appropriate that Ponga was making his return in Newcastle at the stadium he has graced since joining Newcastle Knights in 2018. And his Knights team-mate Phoenix Crossland was also in the Kiwi squad and enjoyed some game time after returning from a four-game suspension following his hip-drop tackle that severely injured another superstar, Penrith’s Nathan Cleary, in the NRL play-off semi-final.

Ponga demonstrated his value to the Kiwis by making three try-assists and completing several try-saving tackles.

His short pass to Briton Nikora led to the opening try and he provided the assist for Xavier Willison to score the decisive try in the second half.

And if we needed to see some evidence that his arm would stand up to the rigours of a World Cup semi-final, his tackle on Demitric Vaimauga demonstrated that it was fine, while he also copped plenty of stinging tackles throughout the game from the Tongan forwards.

On the other side of the ledger, the outstanding centre Robert Toia was missing for Tonga with a knee injury. I had been looking forward to seeing the clash between him and the equally outstanding Casey McLean for New Zealand, but as it turned out McLean went on to have a great game in Toia’s absence.

Before the game I thought that the presence of Ponga, if he could survive 80 minutes, and the absence of Toia, taken together, might be enough to swing this semi-final in the Kiwis’ favour.

And so it proved, in front of a full house at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium and weather that was more like Newcastle in England in mid-December, with heavy rain and a howling gale that blew directly down the pitch and grew stronger in the second half, with the Tongans playing directly into the teeth of it.

Inevitably it impacted on the Tongans’ second-half kicking game and the Kiwis, who were only leading 12-10 at half-time, were able to pull away with 22 unanswered points in the second half.

Even before the game started we had seen high drama after the Sipi Tau and the Haka.

When the Kiwis finished their Haka, the Tongans stood still in a line and refused to move, with both sets of players staring each other down for 65 seconds.

It fired up the crowd and the tension was finally broken by the Kiwis and their skipper James Fisher-Harris.

The Tongans had the majority of the crowd on their side and they always draw inspiration from the massed ranks of their supporters, as their star halfback Isaiya Katoa acknowledged after the game.

Unfortunately Katoa seemed to suffer a leg injury during the game, making him limp for a while, but subsequently seeming to recover.

But his partnership with Tui Lolohea (the only Super League player in this game) wasn’t as effective as the Kiwi pair of Jahrome Hughes and Koki Nikorima, with Hughes scoring a decisive try that gave the Kiwis a comfortable lead with less the 30 minutes remaining.

The outstanding player for Tonga was Jojo Fifita, who ran for 207 metres and made four line-breaks. He is an example of a player who has really grown in confidence as the tournament unfolded.

The question now is whether the Kiwis can go on to win the World Cup in Brisbane next Sunday.

I think they can.

They could be without their forward Naufahu Whyte, who failed to finish the game with an ankle injury, but they will be able to call on their aggressive winger Ronaldo Mulitalo, who was suspended for one match after their victory over Fiji.

In this game they got their revenge against Tonga for their defeat in the 2017 World Cup.

And now they have their best chance of winning the World Cup since they defeated Australia in the 2008 final.

The difference is that this time they are the favourites to achieve that objective, which may or may not be a good thing for them.