Australia and England booked their spots in the final of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup following another exciting weekend of action in Brisbane and Auckland.
On Friday night, it was the Valentine Holmes show as the winger crossed for six tries (a rugby league record) — helping the Kangaroos to a third successive semifinal win over Fiji.
However, the drama there was nothing to Saturday, where Tonga came within a whisker of pulling off a stunning comeback to down England. Two tries in the final five minutes had the crowd favourites trailing by just two points, before Andrew Fifita was controversially ruled to have knocked on with the try-line in sight, allowing England to hold on for a 20-18 victory.
Following their last-minute semifinal defeat back in 2013, England will be looking to complete their redemption against Australia in the final, which will be played on December 2.
Kickoff for the final is ay 8:00pm AEDT from Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
SEMIFINALS
Australia 54 def. Fiji 6 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
England 30 def. Tonga 18 at Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
TOURNAMENT STATS
MOST POINTS
48 — Cameron Smith (Australia), Valentine Holmes (Australia)
44 — Shaun Johnson (New Zealand)
41 — Gareth Widdop (England)
40 — Rhyse Martin (Papua New Guinea)
MOST TRIES
12 — Valentine Holmes (Australia)
9 — Suliasi Vunivalu (Fiji)
7 — Jermaine McGillvary (England)
5 — Michael Jennings (Tonga), David Fusitu'a (Tonga)
MOST TACKLES
169 — Alex Twal (Lebanon)
164 — Apisai Koroisau (Fiji)
157 — Elliott Whitehead (England), James Graham (England)
156 — Sika Manu (Tonga)
MOST CONVERSIONS
23 — Cameron Smith (Australia)
17 — Shaun Johnson (New Zealand)
16 — Rhyse Martin (Papua New Guinea)
15 — Gareth Widdop (England)
14 — Sio Siua Taukeiaho (Tonga)
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