New Zealand 34-12 Lebanon: Manu stars as Kiwis beat spirited Cedars

New Zealand started their Rugby League World Cup campaign with a hard-fought 34-12 victory against Lebanon on Sunday.

The world's number one side were made to sweat on occasion at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington, and surprisingly fell behind to their Group C opponents inside the first minute when Josh Mansour raced onto a loose ball on the right to score.

The Kiwis were soon level when Kenneth Bromwich went over, before substitute Nelson Asofa-Solomona got his side ahead despite some excellent defensive work from Lebanon, with Peta Hiku adding another shortly after to give New Zealand an 18-6 lead at the break.

The Cedars would not go away, though, and scored their second try to halve the deficit shortly after the restart as Abbas Miski went over down the left side.

After a further scare, the Kiwis took charge as terrific work from Manu ended with Dylan Brown racing through to score, before Manu again showed his quality to get a try of his own before the hour.

Jordan Rapana then added another just after Lebanon's Adam Doueihi was sent off for dissent.

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