Miski gets Lebanon home in golden point thriller

An 85th minute try from Abbas Miski handed Lebanon a 24-20 golden point victory over France in a thrilling contest at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.

This may have been a dead rubber but it delivered one of the games of the tournament with both countries putting pride and passion on the line.

Arthur Mourgue sent the match into extra-time after slotting a two-point field goal in the 80th minute but it was also the French fullback left devastated after a brain explosion which saw him kick the ball into Miski's arms after he had fielded a missed goal kick and only needed to take the tackle to see the match continue.

Lebanon opened the scoring in their first attacking opportunity with Alex Conti starting and finishing his own try to put the Cedars in front by six just four minutes into the match.

Three straight errors from a frustrated Jacob Kiraz presented France a chance to wrestle back some momentum later in the half but they couldn't turn the opportunity into points.

After a 29-minute arm wrestle, it was France who broke the stalemate through an Amir Bourouh penalty try after the bunker ruled Moustafa Dirani dislodged the ball with his foot in the put down.

The remainder of the first half proved frustrating for Lebanon who took their error tally to ten, but they still managed to hang on to an 8-6 lead at the break.

Both sides added to their error tally early in the second half but it was Lebanon who finally found some composure with Michael Gabrael slicing through to ground a Conti grubber and extend the Cedar's lead 14-6.

France look to have squandered another opportunity when Jordan Samrani intercepted a Cesar Rouge pass but the Parramatta centre put the ball down and Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet picked up the crumbs to race away and put France back within two points.

Courtesy of some second phase play, Lebanon hit back through a spectacular finish from winger Tony Francis but France refused to go away and set up a grandstand finish with Rouge crossing in the 71st minute to lock the scoreboard 18-18.

Lebanon were gifted a chance to steal back the lead after Rouge was penalised for an escort and Conti slotted a penalty goal to put his side in front 20-18.

Emotions boiled over in the final minutes with French prop Julian Bousquet and Lebanon skipper Alex Twal both sent to the sin bin with less than four minutes to play.

After repeat sets on their attacking line, France looked all but to steal the match in the dying seconds but a fumbled ball in the in-goal was ruled to have been grounded by Lebanon. 

After Conti opted for a long drop out, it was Mourgue who stood up for France, slotting a two-point field goal from 40m out to take the game to golden point. 

The France army were on the field when Rouge slotted a field goal but the scoreboard went back to 20-20 with Thomas Lacans penalised for obstruction. 

Just as we thought we'd seen it all, a last ditch attempt chip and chase play from Mourgue was kicked into the hands of Miski who raced his way to the line to score the winning try.

Conti had a day out for the Cedars, finishing with player-of-the-match honours with two try assists, three tackle breaks, two penalty goals and 114 run metres to go with his opening try.