Referee clipped over bizarre sin-ball call as New Zealand hammers Tonga to reach Pacific Championships final

New Zealand was forced to play the first 10 minutes of the second half of its Pacific Championships game against Tonga on Sunday a man down due to a refereeing decision that had Cameron Smith shaking his head.

But the Kiwis withstood Ashley Klein's controversial and unusual call as they carved out a 40-14 win in front of 38,914 spectators at Eden Park in Auckland to advance to the Pacific Championships final.

New Zealand will take on Samoa in the decider at Sydney's CommBank Stadium next Sunday.

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With the Kiwis leading 24-0 in the dying seconds of the first half and Tonga marching through New Zealand's half of the field, Erin Clark ran down the clock by continuing to wrestle with Kulikefu Finefeuiaki once the tackle had been made.

It's common in that situation for the referee to blow a penalty. Klein did, which resulted in Isaiya Katoa banging over a penalty goal to reduce the deficit to 24-2.

But Klein also opted to dump Clark in the sin bin.

Watch the 2025 Pacific Championships live and free on Nine and 9Now.

"That's a deliberate penalty to delay the game," Klein explained.

Asked for his take on the decision during Nine's half-time coverage, Smith took a swipe at the whistleblower.

"There were four nanoseconds left on the clock and he put him in the bin for that," Smith said.

"Like, come on, Ash, just blow half-time.

"If you've got an issue with it, go over to Erin Clark and say, 'Mate, no more of that stuff. Come on, let's just play footy'."

"Listen to Cam," replied presenter Emma Lawrence.

"He [Smith] is one of the greatest referees of all time," added Allana Ferguson, ribbing the Melbourne Storm legend.

Many believed Smith was able to influence referees with his towering stature in the game, calm persona and accountant-like looks.

The 433-game NRL legend was also renowned for slowing down the ruck with wrestling moves.

On the other side of half-time in Sunday's game, the Kiwis cancelled out Tonga's penalty goal with a penalty goal of their own when Demitric Vaimauga was pinged for being offside.

Then in the 49th minute, Vaimauga barged over for a try while Clark was still off the field as Tonga closed the deficit to 26-8.

But New Zealand hit back with a try through Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad only two minutes later, added another in the 65th minute via Dylan Brown, then chalked up a third try in succession through Phoenix Crossland in the 71st minute.

Daniel Tupou scored a consolation try for Tonga with four minutes remaining.

The first-half try-scorers were Keano Kini, Brown, Casey McLean and Matthew Timoko.

Brown, who will begin life at Newcastle this summer on a 10-year deal worth $13 million, was awarded man of the match on Sunday.

Wearing New Zealand's No.6 jumper, the former Parramatta playmaker scored a double, set up two tries, ran for 116 metres, broke out of five tackles and laid 16 tackles.

Tongan forward's brutal day

Eliesa Katoa was rushed to hospital after suffering three head knocks: one in his side's warm-up and another two during the match.

The Tongan back-rower copped friendly fire from Lehi Hopoate while jumping for a ball in the warm-up.

In the 10th minute of the game, he was elbowed in the face by teammate Will Penisini in a tackle. He left the field but returned, having passed a head injury assessment.

He copped another hit to the head when he went low to tackle Naufahu Whyte in the 53rd minute, which resulted in him being ruled out of the match.

And Katoa then deteriorated on the bench, prompting him to be whisked away on a medicab and rushed to hospital.