New Zealand have confirmed star full-back Kalyn Ponga is set to undergo surgery on a broken arm suffered in their defeat to Australia in yesterday’s World Cup opener.

The Newcastle Knights and Queensland Maroons superstar suffered the injury part-way through the second-half in their 24-22 defeat to the Kangaroos, but played through the pain barrier for a large part of that period before coming off with 10 minutes left.

Ponga enjoyed a dazzling start to his Test career with the Kiwis, though, scoring two tries across his shift.

Kalyn Ponga set for surgery as New Zealand confirm full extent of injury

In a statement, New Zealand said: “Kalyn Ponga has been booked in for surgery after breaking the radius in his left arm in the Kiwis’ 22-24 loss to the Kangaroos in last night’s opening match of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup in Sydney.

“The 28-year-old fullback remained on the field until the 70th minute after suffering the break earlier in the second-half.

“Ponga marked an outstanding Test debut by scoring two tries, running 253 metres from 16 runs, making three line breaks and five tackle breaks.”

However, while he is set for surgery and is expected to miss the remainder of the pool stages, that doesn’t necessarily mean his World Cup campaign is over, with the Kiwis medical team confirming he will remain in camp post-op.

“We wish Kalyn all the best with his surgery today,” said team doctor Greg Macleod.

“We’ll see how that goes, but for now he will remain in camp.”

Following their defeat to the Kangaroos in yesterday’s opener, New Zealand now turn their attention to their meeting with the Cook Islands in round two of the pool stages in Christchurch. They then conclude the pool stage with a clash against Fiji.

Should they wish to make it through to the semi-finals, and possibly see Ponga back in action, they will need to finish in the top two of pool A.