Lebanon ecstatic after England upset

Travis Robinson declared Lebanon were on the cusp of a great World Cup upset after the rank outsiders defeated England 16-13 to sit on the edge of the 9s semi-finals.

Despite Robinson and his brother Reece being the team's only players with NRL experience, the Cedars shocked Bankwest Stadium by scoring three tries to two against a star-studded side.

Having also beaten France on Friday, Lebanon sat atop Pool B after the England win and will make the finals if they down Wales later on Saturday.

"It'll probably be the upset of any World Cup I think. Japan beating South Africa in union – forget about that!" said Robinson, who was the hero with two tries.

"No one expected anything, the boys just showed up with a lot of energy and came up with a win against a class side.

"We knew if we came out with energy, worked hard on each one of their plays, we'd come up with a win.

"It doesn't matter who you play at the end of the day, everyone's human. If you perform on the day you win the game as we just showed."

Asked about a hypothetical salary cap difference between the nations, Robinson laughed: "I think Gaz Widdop would beat our whole side [money-wise]! I think their last player would beat our whole side."

Lebanon has been embroiled in controversy this year with its board and players at odds, contributing to the lack of NRL talent on show.

However, Robinson said the absence of big names wasn't an issue.

"I don't really know what was going on," said Robinson.

"If they were here they were here, if not we'll still perform with the team we've got as we can see."

The Cedars landed the first blow over England when Western Suburbs reserve grade winger Bilal Marbaani powered across for his third try of the tournament.

Departed St George Illawarra captain Gareth Widdop quickly returned serve and it seemed order was restored.

But the prospect of a shock became real as Robinson scored a double in the space of two minutes to give Lebanon the lead at the break.

Ex-New Zealand Warriors fullback Sam Tomkins bagged a converted bonus zone try to close the gap to three points but Lebanon's gritty defence just held on.

Man of the moment Robinson batted a last-ditch Widdop grubber dead in-goal to seal the win.

"I was gone from the heat already … Sometimes I miss those but I got that one on the day so I'm happy," Robinson said.

"[But] if we don't carry it on to the next game I think it will be a bit disappointing.

"If we carry it on, we have the chance to top our pool – if we top our pool, who would have thought that."