England fight off Lebanon as Kiwis set up showdown

SYDNEY: England wore down Lebanon for their first win at the Rugby League World Cup while New Zealand and Tonga set up an explosive showdown with victories yesterday. England downed Brad Fittler’s Lebanon 29-10 in Sydney in a match marred by a biting allegation lodged by Lebanon’s skipper Robbie Farah against England winger Jermaine McGillvary in the second half.

McGillvary was placed on report for allegedly biting Farah’s arm after Farah made an official complaint onfield. Wayne Bennett’s team led early after a try by centre Kallum Watkins before Lebanon hit back with a Farah grubber kick leading to Nick Kassis pouncing on the loose ball to level at 6-6.

The prospect of a possible boilover soon dissipated when England scored three tries in eight minutes, setting up England’s 16-point advantage going into the break. Lebanon can make the quarter-finals out of Pool A if England down winless France in Perth next weekend. Tonga set up a combustible Pool B showdown with New Zealand next week when they held off fastfinishing Samoa to take the much-anticipated clash of the Pacific island heavyweights 32-18 in Hamilton.

The star-studded Tongans remain unbeaten after they put 50 points on Scotland last week and have already qualified for the last eight along with New Zealand. Tonga were in control at 26-6 midway through the second half but the Samoans closed the gap to eight points with two converted tries before Manu Ma’u scored three minutes from time to secure the outcome for Tonga.

After a week of street violence involving fans from both sides in the lead up to the match, the players calmed tension when they hugged and joined in prayer before kick off and the match was played in a lively atmosphere. New Zealand’s classy off-loading proved too much for a hapless Scotland as they ran in 14 tries in a commanding 74-6 victory in Christchurch.

The Kiwis pulled off an amazing 40 off-loads, with Martin Taupau and Nelson Asofa-Solomona prominent, to inflict the heaviest defeat ever suffered by a Scotland team.—AFP