TEARS of joy and just two points in it.

In the lowest scoring game of the 2017 World Cup and Fiji have booked their place against Australia in the semi-final next week following a nail-biting 4-2 win over New Zealand.

It was gritty, it was gutsy and it was special from the Bati.

While each Fijian dug deep, Viliame Kikau, Api Koroisau, Jarryd Hayne and Kevin Naiqama were exceptional.

The Bati started strong, not afraid to chance their hand and their belief almost paid off when Hayne decided to run the ball on the last after just five minutes.

MATCH CENTRE: NEW ZEALAND V FIJI

Former Manly centre Brayden Williame found himself in space but couldn’t hold onto the ball as he was hit by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck while trying to find the line.

Still it was the Bati who posted first points.

Te Maire Martin (C) is tackled by Fiji's Apisai Koroisau and Suliasi Vunivalu. Source: AFP

Ill-discipline following a dropped ball from Dallin Watene-Zelezniak saw Api Koroisau slot a penalty goal for an early lead.

There were five handling errors from the Kiwis in the opening 25 minutes.

The Kiwis were poor. They left their worst performance to last. Coach David Kidwell is directly in the firing line.

While Fiji played direct and kicked with purpose, the Kiwis lacked direction and discipline.

It was only desperation tackles from Tuivasa-Sheck and Isaac Liu which kept the Fijians out in the first half.

After suffering a stunning loss to Tonga last week, the Kiwis shifted Kodi Nikorima to the bench in favour of Te Maire Martin in the halves but with Shaun Johnson orchestrating the attack, their last tackle options in the first half were predictable.

To make matters worse, they lost Joseph Tapine for the bulk of the game when he injured his right knee in a tackle gone wrong on Akuila Uate.

Still they only trailed by two at the break.

When they returned from the sheds, they looked like a new side.

Playing direct, the Kiwis made easy metres before a penalty goal from Johnson levelled the scores at the 45 minute mark.

Just when the Kiwis appeared to shift the momentum back their way, a Johnson kick was returned by Kevin Naiqama with gusto.

The 70 metre run ended with Jordan Rapana in the sin bin for a professional foul but the Bati couldn’t convert the advantage into four points.

Hayne put Williame through a gap with a short ball but the backrower was pinged for a double movement.

With 20 minutes remaining, Tuivasa-Sheck coughed up a Raiwalui grubber 10 metres from his line with the intense kick-chase pressure from Naiqma proving too much to handle.

While the home side scrambled hard, a strip on Viliame Kikau gifted Taane Milne a penalty goal and Fiji reclaimed the lead 4-2.

Kevin Naiqama of Fiji is tackled by Adam Blair. Source: Getty Images

Tapine returned from the dead to secure the Kiwis’ first line break and spark the attack but the Fijian defence held strong.

That was until a Naiqama dropped ball on a kick return four minutes from fulltime gave the Kiwis possession 40 metres from the Fiji line.

A Johnson grubber secured a repeat set but the Bati’s scramble kept the Kiwis out to secure the win.

Kidwell will be lucky to survive.

Re-live all the action in our blog below:

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