George Williams on England's World Cup win over France

The 42-18 victory at the University of Bolton Stadium makes it two wins out of two for Shaun Wane’s side, and a win for Samoa over Greece today will send both sides through to the quarter finals.

Warrington Wolves half-back Williams was named player of the match as he continues to show good form for his country following a difficult year at club level.

“It has been a tough year but to come into an England camp with so many good players makes my job pretty easy,” he told BBC Sport post-match

“I’m really enjoying it - there’s probably a couple of lads I’d have given it (the man of the match award) to but I’ll take it.”

George Williams is interviewed by the BBC's Tanya Arnold following England's win over France (Image: SWPix.com)

After storming into an 18-0 lead early on, England were stung by a French fightback as Laurent Frayssinoux’s side reduced their advantage to 18-12 at half time.

However, Wane’s men flexed their muscles after the break and scored 24 unanswered points to wrap the game up.

They complete their Group A campaign on Saturday as they take on Greece at Sheffield’s Bramall Lane and another victory would secure their progress to the last eight as group winners.

For Williams, however, it is all about improvement.

“It really was a tough evening,” he said.

“Credit to France – we started really well and we were really pleased with our first 20 minutes, but they came back fighting. They put us in a tough spot for a pretty long period.

“We got a bit of a roasting at half time for the way we finished the half, but we finished strongly. They only scored one try in the second half so it’s pretty pleasing.

“We were far from perfect but we won.

“That’s the most important thing and we continue on our journey now with two wins and we look forward to Greece next week.

“We want to get better week-by-week and hopefully we can put on a better performance against Greece than we did tonight.”