But the win could yet be tarnished with England winger Jermaine McGillvary, one of his side's best performers in the tournament, facing potential disciplinary action after being accused of biting by Lebanon skipper Robbie Farah.

The Huddersfield player was placed on report by referee Ben Thaler after Farah complained he was bitten on the arm in a ruck at the start of the second half.

Television replays proved inconclusive about the alleged bite, and English official Thaler referred the incident to a disciplinary panel who will review it after the game.

"You never like seeing those things on a footy pitch - and I reacted," Farah said afterwards, although McGillvary has already been backed by a number of ex-professionals acting as TV analysts.

 Jonathan Davies, the former Great Britain full-back and Wales rugby union international said: "I find it extraordinary.

"If someone puts their forearm or fingers in my mouth I am going to bite them. 

"His mouth was closed.

"Farah was yapping all game and should have put his arm in his own mouth."

Assuming Australia defeat Lebanon to finish top of Group A, England will confirm their quarter-final place as runners-up by beating France in the final pool game on November 12.

Having lost their opener to Australia, England led 22-6 at half-time through tries from Kallum Watkins, McGillvary, Ryan Hall and Ben Currie.

Thomas Burgess ran in a solo try after the break, but Lebanon narrowed the gap through Jason Wehbe's late try.

Gareth Widdop struck a drop goal with the last kick of the game to finish off a relatively comfortable win for England.

Wayne Bennett's England are likely to face either Papua New Guinea or Ireland in the last eight.

Elsewhere, New Zealand scored 14 tries as they thrashed Scotland 74-6 in their World Cup Group B match in Christchurch.

Shaun Johnson scored one try and kicked nine goals as he became New Zealand's record points scorer, moving past Matthew Ridge's mark of 168.

Peta Hiku and stand-off Te Maire Martin both grabbed hat-tricks.

Oscar Thomas scored a consolation try for Scotland, who have conceded 124 points in two matches and face Samoa in their final group game next Saturday.

Scotland could still qualify because the top three teams from Group B go through to the quarter-finals and so a win over Samoa in Cairns - unlikely as that seems - may well see them through.

Coach Steve McCormack had few excuses for another lamentable performance. 

"We had no ball and New Zealand were fresh and technically they were very good," said McCormack.

"I've said all along we've got a young squad and we'll learn lessons from that. 

"The key is to make sure we turn up with a better attitude against Samoa."

McCormack was, however, impressed by debutant centre Brandon Wilkinson.

"There are positives," added McCormack. 

"I'd pick out Wilkinson, a lad who's never played Super League.

"He really showed up for a young player who was playing academy football 12 months ago."

Tonga booked their place in the quarter-finals for the first time after they beat Samoa 32-18 and if they beat New Zealand next Saturday they can avoid hot-favourites Australia in the semi-finals.

Centre Michael Jennings was again a star for Tonga, crossing for two tries in the first half to give his team an early advantage.

Samoan winger Ken Maumalo fumbled the ball in his attempt to clean up the kick and it was quickly pounced on by Jennings to open Tonga’s try scoring account.

However, Samoa clawed their way back into the game and just minutes after the opening try, hooker Jazz Tevaga burrowed his way over the Tongan line from dummy half to even up the scores.

But Tonga would be the ones to gain the advantage, notching up eight points in two minutes, thanks once again to Jennings, who scored a hat-trick of tries in last weekend’s 50-4 demolition of Scotland.

Tonga once again turned to the aerial option, sending the ball to Daniel Tupou who batted the ball back for an eagerly awaiting Jennings, who slammed the ball down as Waikato Stadium erupted.

Tonga struck first in the second half following a brilliant individual effort from interchange forward Peni Terepo.

A try from Ben Murdoch-Masila in the 59th minute seemingly sealed the win before Samoa crossed for two tries through Ben Roberts and Tim Lafai to reduce the gap to just eight points.

But Samoa fell short again and Tonga and five minutes from time Manu Ma’u crossed for their fifth try of the night.