'We feel we're a together team' - England captain Williams

France v England Test double-header

Venue: Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse Date: Saturday, 29 June Kick-off: 14:30 BST (women), 17:00 BST (men)

This week is one I've been looking forward to since it was announced. The chance to go into camp for a game against France as England captain.

It's not something you ever take for granted, but sometimes you get a reminder of how special it is.

One of the young lads came up to me at Warrington and asked: "What's it like to be England captain?" And it threw me off a little bit.

I was like - phew - it's a massive thing. I'm unbelievably proud.

It makes me reflect on where I've come from. Everyone's got different stories, but to be England captain is very special.

I love going into camp. I'm not sure if Charlotte, my partner, will be happy reading that with me being away from the kids for a week or so.

I've always enjoyed it but especially now with the environment Shaun Wane has created; it's said a fair bit but there used to be divides everywhere with Wigan, Leeds, Warrington etc, but now we feel like we're a together team.

It's mad, sometimes you don't like people when you've played against them but then you come into England camp and realise they're a good fella.

It's the sport we play: it's physical and people are bit chirpy on the field but they're nice lads off it.

Harry Newman shocked me - and I said this to him, so it's no surprise - he plays on the edge, he's competitive and he has a bit of arrogance, which you need in sport and I love people that back themselves, but he is a really nice lad.

Waney does his homework. There are no idiots and it's a really good group.

How good is it that we've got the Samoa series sorted?

We played the World Cup, then the Tonga series and now we've got Samoa and next year the Ashes.

That's a good international calendar. We want to play against the best teams and that's now what we're doing.

Then the World Cup comes after that in 2026. That's what we want from international rugby league and we want more.

The series with Samoa has been marketed as revenge. That World Cup semi-final loss at Arsenal in 2022 is the toughest loss of my career. I've lost Grand Finals and Challenge Cup finals, but that was the hardest one.

One of the two Tests is in Wigan. I hope I get the chance to lead out my country in my hometown - it would be pretty special.

I'll have people mithering me for tickets, no doubt.

One of the things I enjoy is that mentorship side of being captain.

I missed the first two Tests against Tonga last year as I was suspended, but looking back, it was good for me to get around some of the younger lads, such as Harry Smith and Mikey Lewis. I feel quite old now looking around the team.

It was good from a leadership side of things, helping where I could. I was still talking in meetings but obviously not playing.

It's down to me to suss out what people need. When [St Helens full-back] Jack Welsby came in, he was a young kid but really confident. I didn't really need to tell him too much. Our game is pretty similar, we read the same things, so we play really well together. I know Mikey Lewis was nervous coming in, but he did a really great job.

Some need more than others, but it's about making players feel at ease, letting them realise they're here for a reason and what they've been doing is working, so stick with it.

At Warrington, we're a couple of weeks on now from the Challenge Cup final defeat by Wigan, and I'm slowly getting over it.

It was a tough night, that Saturday. We had a beer together as a group but it was so disappointing.

I was adamant we were going to win - not in an arrogant way, I just wanted it so much. But it wasn't meant to be.

It was a good lesson for us. Wigan just played better on the day. You could tell they'd been involved in big games over the past 12 to 18 months and we hadn't really.

I wouldn't call it stage fright, but maybe the occasion got the better of us and we made too many errors. But it was a great lesson as a group. We've played 20 games under Sam [Burgess] and I want to see how we are after 40 or 60 games.

George Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Matt Newsum.