Rugby League World Cup explodes after extraordinary bite accusation

Robbie Farah of Lebanon makes an official complaint of biting against Jermaine McGillvary of England. Getty Images.

All hell has broken loose at the Rugby League World Cup following Rabbitohs star Robbie Farah's accusation he was bitten by an English rival.

The Lebanon playmaker claims he was bitten on the arm by English winger Jermaine McGillvary at the start of the second half of England's hard-fought 29-10 win over Lebanon at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.

Replays show Farah's arm was wrapped around McGillvary's mouth in the middle of a tackle.

It also shows the English speedster's mouth wide open with Farah's forearm in between his teeth.

The incident has been placed on report and Rugby League World Cup 2017 officials have confirmed the incident will now be looked at by a match review committee.

Tensions almost boiled over immediately after McGillvary had played the ball with his scuffle with Farah forcing the game to temporarily be stopped as players ran in from everywhere to help their teammates.

As the game was halted, Farah approached the referee while pointing to a spot on his arm, declaring he had been bitten.

"He bit me," Farah could be heard saying through the Channel 7 broadcast.
"What? See the marks? I didn't bite myself."

It came as McGillvary could be heard yelling back at Farah that: "You were choking me".

Farah then responded: "It doesn't matter. You can't bite people."

Farah refused to take back his accusation when asked about the incident after the game.
"You never like seeing those things happen," Farah told Channel 7.

"I reacted to what happened.

"It's pretty clear to see what happened on the replay."

He also refused to comment on his accusation in the post-match press conference.

Farah was visibly furious on the field when he was not even awarded a penalty. The incident will be looked at this week before England's game against France in Perth on Sunday.

Farah's biting claim is the second one of the tournament so far.

Welsh forward Ben Evans last week claimed he was bitten by Papua New Guinea prop Wellington Albert.

Lebanon remains on track to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals after their win over France in the first group game.