"Devastated" Kiwis winger Manu Vatuvei faces surgery for the broken arm which ended his Four Nations rugby league campaign just three minutes after it started.

The Kiwis opened the tournament with a 24-10 victory against England at Wellington's Westpac Stadium but Saturday night's success came at a high cost with the loss of game-breaker Vatuvei for the rest of the tournament.

X-rays have confirmed he has a displaced fracture of the radius in his right forearm, the result of coming into contact with England centre Michael Shenton's elbow when making a tackle soon after the kick-off.

The Kiwis, reduced to a 22-man squad, flew out of Wellington for Rotorua on Sunday to prepare for their next match against Papua New Guinea on Saturday.

But 24-year-old Vatuvei was returning home to Auckland for an operation on his broken right arm.

Fronting the media in Wellington on Sunday, Vatuvei said he was devastated his tournament was over.

"It's disappointing I'm out of the campaign now but this is all part of rugby league. It wasn't my day," he said.

"I need an operation to have a rod inserted and I've been told I might have a cast on for six weeks.

"After that I should be able to start training again."

"I have to move on and leave it behind me now but I'm devastated that I have to leave my brothers like this."

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