TWITTER TALK: Fans react to England beating Lebanon
England won 29-10 against Lebanon to pick up their first win in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup and fans have had mixed views on social media.
Wayne Bennett made three changes to his side that lost the opening game of the tournament last week against Australia. Stefan Ratchford, Alex Walmsley and George Williams came into the side and replaced Jonny Lomax, Sam Burgess and James Roby.
Three Lions centre Kallum Watkins opened the scoring before Nick Kassis levelled the score at 6-6 following his try for Lebanon.
Jermaine McGillvary continued his good form for England and scored before Ryan Hall and Ben Currie also crossed the whitewash which saw England leading 22-6 at the half-time interval.
Tom Burgess stretched England’s lead in the second half before Jason Wehbe scored a consolation for the Cedars late on.
With just seconds of the game remaining, Dally M Half-Back of the Year Gareth Widdop added a drop-goal to seal a 29-10 victory for the Three Lions in front of the 10,237 people in attendance.
TEAMS
England: 21. Stefan Ratchford, 2. Jermaine McGillvary, 3. Kallum Watkins, 4. John Batemna, 5. Ryan Hall, 6. Gareth Widdop, 7. Luke Gale, 8. Chris Hill, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. James Graham, 11. Ben Currie, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Sean O’Loughlin (C).
Interchange: 14. Alex Walmsley, 15. Chris Heighington, 16. Tom Burgess, 18. George Williams.
Lebanon: 1. Daniel Abou-Sleiman, 2. Travis Robinson, 3. Bilal Maarbani, 4. Adam Doueihi, 5. Abbas Miski, 6. Mitchell Moses, 7. Robbie Farah (C), 8. Tim Mannah, 16. Jamie Clark, 14. Mitchell Mamary, 10. Alex Twal, 12. Ahmad Ellaz, 13. Nick Kassis.
Interchange: 9. Michael Lichaa, 15. Raymound Moujalli, 17. Jason Wehbe, 18. Elias Sukkar.
And here is how you reacted to the result on Twitter:
Won in 2nd gear, last week lost in 4th gear …more to come from England …need to learn to play in 5th gear no matter who we're up against
— Andy Moore (@RedAndy13) November 4, 2017
Good go forward, good defence, decent kicking game, need to improve left side attack (timings way off) 6/10
— breno1919 (@breno19191) November 4, 2017
Well done wayne Bennett,taken us backwards from a side being compared to touching distance of the level of Aus & Nzl to an average at best
— simon miles (@simonmiles2) November 4, 2017
awful second half……. ,doesn't build up my confidence for France let alone the Aussies and All Blacks.
— ? NNNWarrington ? (@NNNWarrington) November 4, 2017
Being a x pro myself its hard to get into the frame of mind as you would against the ozzies ect. And with it being a tournament wins a win
— Rich Tea (@RichTea19) November 4, 2017
All Robbie Farah has done today is moan and whinge! #RLWC2017 #ENGvLEB
— Horsley (@jkhorsley) November 4, 2017
Solid! Had it won in the first half. You only have to beat what’s in front of you. No point burning out on a won game or risking injuries!
— Stuart Lawson (@Real_StuLawson) November 4, 2017
Lebanon are a better team than they are given credit for.. ref had a shocker. Work in progress for England
— Nath (@nlock40) November 4, 2017
Samoa/Tonga game was a great spectacle, and an entertaining game. This one is boring, scrappy and poor entertainment #ENGvLEB #RLWC2017
— Danny Coates (@dannyc1402) November 4, 2017
I know it’s a stereotype but is there a more appropriate ad for a “Northern” sport???? #ENGvLEB pic.twitter.com/r7nTgiMrhC
— chris davis (@krid05) November 4, 2017
What do you make of the England performance and end result? Let us know in the comments below.