TONGA await the winners of tomorrow’s quarter final between England and Papua New Guinea in the last four of Rugby League World Cup 2017, while New Zealand have been knocked out in a huge shock for the tournament.

New Warrington Wolves signing Ben Murdoch-Masila and his Tonga teammates were pushed to the wire by Lebanon before progressing 24-22 in this morning’s last-eight clash in Christchurch, New Zealand.

And it was Fiji, with former Wolves prop Ashton Sims to the fore, who knocked out the Kiwis 4-2 in Wellington and will go on to face holders Australia in the first semi-final in Brisbane on Friday.

Murdoch-Masila joined the action off the bench when the Tongans led 16-6 around 28 minutes into the first half.

But the Cedars would not go away and were still in the hunt at half-time 22-16, restricting Tonga, who had beaten New Zealand last week, to just a penalty goal in the second half.

Murdoch-Masila took a couple of heavy knocks in the second half and was replaced around the 70-minute mark as Tonga held on to their two-point advantage for the final 10 minutes.

It will be Tonga’s first ever appearance in a semi final, which is scheduled to take place in Auckland next Saturday.

A 64th-minute penalty goal from Taane Milne proved to be enough to send the Fijians into their third successive World Cup semi final.