Lebanon Eye Tests against France and England in 2024

[Sports Prophet]

9 hours ago, Eddie said:

Do you think many people in Lebanon would be interested in an England v Lebanon rugby league match being played in a foreign country with no Lebanese born players then? 

Yes

[JonM]

15 hours ago, Eddie said:

I doubt a load of Australians playing a match in England will register so much as a blip in Lebanon. 

The last two times that Lebanon have played here, it appeared to generate rather more TV and newspaper coverage in Lebanon that England RL gets in England.

[Sports Prophet]

4 hours ago, JonM said:

The last two times that Lebanon have played here, it appeared to generate rather more TV and newspaper coverage in Lebanon that England RL gets in England.

I am not surprised.

[RP London]

20 hours ago, Eddie said:

Do you think many people in Lebanon would be interested in an England v Lebanon rugby league match being played in a foreign country with no Lebanese born players then? 

Got to say that the best people to ask on this are probably Lebanese people in Lebanon.. While i understand where you are coming from there are countries that don't have the same "hang-ups" that we do and actually see the wider diaspora as absolutely 100% representing them.. Not saying that is the case here but it may well be. 

 

[RP London]

On 14/02/2024 at 08:08, Whippet13 said:

England v Lebanon the weekend after the GF would be a good and refreshingly different warm up for the Samoa tour, if that gets approved - decision on that is expected soon I believe.

absolutely this.. and Lebanon can go on to France and play a 3 test series there.. or a tri nations with wales and france.. get some international Rugby played!!!!

[BristolDevonCharlie]

5 hours ago, RP London said:

absolutely this.. and Lebanon can go on to France and play a 3 test series there.. or a tri nations with wales and france.. get some international Rugby played!!!!

Agree this would be good, but then how do France qualify for the World Cup in 2026?

Correct me if I am wrong, but the way the process seems to me, they would need to take part in qualifying this autumn. 

[JohnM]

Apologies. I can't help myself.  I've tried and I've tried but.....Why does Lebanon need an eye test?  Should have gone to Specsavers........     

Edited February 15 by JohnM

[Tommygilf]

Lebanon are the ideal fit in many respects.

Not miles better than France, not miles off England. Competitive for both.

Tri Nations, 2 games in France, 1 in England.

[RP London]

3 hours ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

Agree this would be good, but then how do France qualify for the World Cup in 2026?

Correct me if I am wrong, but the way the process seems to me, they would need to take part in qualifying this autumn. 

when, where, who, how etc with the world cup... as far as i know nothing has really got any meat on the bones for that.. if there is nothing organised, france can hardly just wait around..

[Eddie]

18 hours ago, JonM said:

The last two times that Lebanon have played here, it appeared to generate rather more TV and newspaper coverage in Lebanon that England RL gets in England.

Serious question - do you read Lebanese newspapers or watch their TV? 

[Gomersall]

4 hours ago, JohnM said:

Apologies. I can't help myself.  I've tried and I've tried but.....Why does Lebanon need an eye test?  Should have gone to Specsavers........     

Are you here all week Jon?

[JohnM]

4 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Are you here all week Jon?

Sadly, yes.

[Gomersall]

14 minutes ago, JohnM said:

Sadly, yes.

I look forward to more of your rapier like wit and repartee

[Sports Prophet]

2 hours ago, JohnM said:

Sadly, yes.

Maybe you can give yourself an early mark  

[JonM]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

Serious question - do you read Lebanese newspapers or watch their TV? 

Only when looking to see whether the Lebanon RL team got any publicity by playing in the world cup.

In answer to your other question though, Lebanese people I know here all have family in Australia, Canada and elsewhere too, and might go "home" once a decade or so. They still consider themselves and others like themselves as Lebanese and I don't think would care about the fact that all or nearly all of the team was born elsewhere.

[Tex Evans Thigh]

Lebanon is one of many elephants in the crowded elephant room that is the international RL front office. Very competitive team for a nation that simply doesn't compete at a high level in any sport. I'm convinced Lebanon is fertile ground but it's completely ignored outside world cups. I can only imagine your average lebaneseer being at the very least least interested in Lebanon playing countries such as France and England and likely winning in the France case.

Take games to Lebanon. Invest just a small amount and it'll likely become a RL stronghold very quickly. But we wont.

Edited February 16 by Tex Evans Thigh

[Eddie]

8 hours ago, JonM said:

Only when looking to see whether the Lebanon RL team got any publicity by playing in the world cup.

In answer to your other question though, Lebanese people I know here all have family in Australia, Canada and elsewhere too, and might go "home" once a decade or so. They still consider themselves and others like themselves as Lebanese and I don't think would care about the fact that all or nearly all of the team was born elsewhere.

Fair enough. People in Australia seeing themselves as Lebanese and people in Lebanon seeing those Australians as Lebanese is not necessarily consistent (eg Americans like Biden thinking they’re Irish while I can only assume your average Irishman doesn’t think they are), but I take your point. 

[gingerjon]

3 hours ago, Tex Evans Thigh said:

Lebanon is one of many elephants in the crowded elephant room that is the international RL front office. Very competitive team for a nation that simply doesn't compete at a high level in any sport. I'm convinced Lebanon is fertile ground but it's completely ignored outside world cups. I can only imagine your average lebaneseer being at the very least least interested in Lebanon playing countries such as France and England and likely winning in the France case.

Take games to Lebanon. Invest just a small amount and it'll likely become a RL stronghold very quickly. But we wont.

Given quite how much RL has been played in Lebanon - in the most testing of circumstances - for about the past 25 years, it is odd that they are simply never seriously in any conversation.

[welshmagpie]

On 15/02/2024 at 17:05, RP London said:

when, where, who, how etc with the world cup... as far as i know nothing has really got any meat on the bones for that.. if there is nothing organised, france can hardly just wait around..

J

Edited February 22 by welshmagpie

[RP London]

1 hour ago, welshmagpie said:

From what I was told last week (lips sealed detail wise for now) France have 4 games pencilled in for next autumn. It’ll be tough to do much more than one game against Lebanon given their proposed schedule. 

If that's the case fair enough... 1 game, 1 game v England maybe 1 v Wales (assuming similar to france).. thats still 3 good competitive games with 1 or 2 wins.. 3 more than they would have had.. 

[Pulga]

On 14/02/2024 at 18:54, Eddie said:

I doubt a load of Australians playing a match in England will register so much as a blip in Lebanon. 

Are we still bringing up this type of garbage? Of all the countries to try to rubbish for fielding heritage players you pick possibly the most successful to have done it?

Rugby League in Lebanon is probably as well known amongst the public as it is in England.

[Eddie]

2 hours ago, Pulga said:

 

Rugby League in Lebanon is probably as well known amongst the public as it is in England.

Are you serious? 

[Pulga]

29 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Are you serious? 

Neither country knows RL exists but Lebanon is 1/11th the population.

[Quinskolar]

But when are the eye tests? Or have I missed something?

[BristolDevonCharlie]

On 15/02/2024 at 17:05, RP London said:

when, where, who, how etc with the world cup... as far as i know nothing has really got any meat on the bones for that.. if there is nothing organised, france can hardly just wait around..

I think World Cup qualification is worth waiting around for. 

Why would they organise fixtures that jeopardise their participation in RLWC 2026?

The other alternative is that they have been told that Europe is not having an official qualification process and it is all down to highest world ranking for the World Series spot. In which case a series against Lebanon plus a game against someone they can easily beat is the perfect mix for the autumn.