A Tonga invitational XIII have produced one of the greatest performances in rugby league history by taking down world champions Australia 16-12 in Auckland.

In front of a pulsating crowd of 25,257 at Eden Park, the Tongans came back from six points down at halftime to claim a famous victory.

It is Australia’s first defeat to a side other than New Zealand, England or Great Britain since going down to France in 1978.

The Kangaroos were leading by six not long into the second half on Saturday when Kotoni Staggs was held up over the line by Daly Cherry-Evans.

They didn’t have to wait for long to cut into the deficit however, with Michael Jennings scoring off a Will Hopoate cutout pass a minute later.

The raucous sea of red was then sent into raptures when Tevita Pangai Junior crashed over off a no-look short ball close to the line for Tonga to claim a four-point lead.

Both teams had several desperate chances to add to the scoreboard, including a last-gasp cut-out pass to Australia’s Nick Cotric that went behind him and into touch.

Tonga players were in tears as soon as the fulltime siren sounded soon after.

The Kangaroos entered the match as hot favourites with a side boasting James Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell, Damien Cook, David Klemmer and Boyd Cordner.

Tonga though breathed life into the international game since the defections of Andrew Fifita and Jason Taumalolo from Australia and New Zealand respectively.

Those moves in 2014 resulted in their stunning World Cup semi-final finish, and they will now be dreaming of going better after a historic triumph.

Their rise as a powerhouse has been pushed by a passionate fanbase that has been in full voice for every one of their contests since.

And again they were in song for the last match of Saturday’s triple-header, setting the scene for another memorable encounter against the world No.1 nation.

Tonga got off to the perfect start when Hopoate took advantage of a quick Taumalolo play-the-ball to scurry over in the 21st minute.

However the Kangaroos were quick to regain the ascendancy by halftime courtesy of two tries in six minutes to Jack Wighton and Paul Vaughan.

Taumalolo was among Tonga’s best with 147 metres and six tackle breaks, while he was well supported by Daniel Tupou and his 168 metres.

Tedesco led Australia with 191 metres and eight tackle busts.