England sweat on Jermaine McGillvary after bite allegation following Rugby League World Cup win over Lebanon

England wing accused of biting Lebanon captain Robbie Farah

England's Jermaine McGillvary could face further action after being accused of biting (NRL Images)

England are facing an anxious wait to discover if winger Jermaine McGillvary will be charged over an alleged bite on Lebanon captain Robbie Farah.

Farah raised the complaint to referee Ben Thaler two minutes into the second half of England's 29-10 win over the Cedars at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday after he was involved in a tackle on the Huddersfield man.

Thaler did not penalise McGillvary but placed the incident on report and it will now go before the tournament match-review panel on Monday.

"Things happen in a split second on the field and you react," said Farah. "I made a complaint on the field and I'll leave it at that.

"I don't think I need to say much else. There is a bit of footage there. It's pretty clear for everyone to see what happened on the replay."

England imposed a media ban on McGillvary immediately after the match and head coach Wayne Bennett commented little on the incident in the post-match press conference.

"It's a bit hard for me to make a comment," said Bennett. "I have no more information than you've got. From where I'm sitting I can't tell you whether he bit him or not."

England, who move on to Perth on Sunday to set up camp ahead of their final group game against France, will be desperate to retain the services of McGillvary, who has one of the leading lights in their campaign so far.

One of only two specialist wingers in Bennett's 24-man squad, he was given the players' man of the match after scoring England's only points in the 18-4 defeat by Australia in Melbourne and got another try against Lebanon to take his total to seven in eight appearances.

It is the second biting allegation of the World Cup. Wales prop Ben Evans made the accusation against Papu New Guinea's Wellington Albert during the first weekend but the case was not proven.

England wing McGillvary has been accused of biting by Lebanon captain Farah (NRL Images)

The RLWC2017 match review panel, which consists of chairman Michael Buettner and panelists Ben Ross and Michael Hodgson, will meet on Monday morning to discuss the incident and will issue any charge by 5pm.

The player would have until noon on Tuesday to make a plea and any disciplinary hearing would be held from 6pm on Wednesday via a video link to NRL headquarters in Moore Park, Sydney.

McGillvary and Farah speak after the full-time whistle (NRL Images)

Cases are heard by a three-man panel, chaired by either the Honorable Justice Geoff Bellew or his deputy, magistrate Robert Abood, and two members from a list that includes former Great Britain international Barrie-Jon Mather and ex-Super League players Tony Puletua and Bob Lindner.

Any ban will be served in the tournament and can be carried over into the player's domestic competition.

PA