During the Rugby League World Cup, George Williams is writing weekly columns for the British Broadcasting Corporation. He talks about meeting royalty, returning to his hometown, and paying respects before the war's end.
We had an actual royal visit this week as the Princess of Wales was introduced to us all before our quarter-final win over the country.
It was nice to have her there. The crowd liked it and it's good for rugby league to have someone like that at the game.
It was a huge chance for our sport. She was going to be there and we did everything we could to get people interested.
She was pleasant. I said "hi" and that it was nice to meet her.
The man seemed to be confused for a long time. I don't know what he was talking about. A few of the guys had a good conversation with her. She spent a lot of time with people.
Sam Tomkins introduced us all, which I was a bit worried about. I was able to dodge that by a week. She wouldn't have understood my Wigan accent if I'd said something.
It was good to get back to Wigan and be cheered on by the crowd, as I usually get booed when I go back with the Wolves.
It was nice to have everyone watch me as I ordered tickets for my family.
It was a great day.
The women's side got off to a great start with a big win against Canada. In the first 30 minutes, we showed what we could do against a strong team.
They came back in the second half to make it more of a tussle, but we blew them away at the start.
We showed our quality. At the beginning of the game, the middles were huge. Big Tommy was in the lead.
It's flowing nicely. If we want to do something special, we need to perform for 80 minutes, not just 30. Red hot is what we need to be.
We've been great defensively. When Morgan and Matty came on, they lifted our defensive efforts and the only thing we could do was take the kick. We're proud of that.
Each week we've had sore bodies, but it's not the fault of the country.
It was an arm-wrestle in the second half and I think it will benefit us. It will be set in the semi-Final and possibly the final. It is crucial.
I wore a clown at the party. I was impressed with the way the guys dressed up. There was no beer involved because it was a sober one.
We had a good laugh at the fact that we had to dress up like sober people.
They made me perform a dance on my birthday. The clown was me. It was a hard job because it was a 30-second dance. All the boys applauded when I said I needed something.
It was not good. It's really bad. The old goal celebration was done by me. After that, I was lost. When you're in that kind of nightmare, it takes 10 minutes.
Every person that has had a birthday in camp has been given a cake. Over the last week or two we've had a few of them.
We went to the National Arboretum to pay our respects to the fallen before Remembrance Sunday.
When Wayne Bennett was England's boss, we did the same thing. We were taken to France for the 100th anniversary of World War One.
Getting us to understand our history as a country and the sacrifice people have been through is something the England camps are passionate about.
We can relate to the kind of hard work and back against the wall that those who fought experienced, but they went through much harder times than we could ever imagine. It was either life or death for them. We want it to be win or lose.
You are connected with the stories we heard. It's gratifying to know how good we are. The players liked it.
I sat in front of the telly and watched sport. The football game was followed by the Samoa-Toga game.
It's great for the sport to see countries like that in front of a big crowd.
The face-off between the two groups of people was amazing. The game was great and brilliant. There wasn't much going on between the two teams.
The way they played against us in the opening game will hurt them in the semi-finals. They will be looking for revenge.
As we have done throughout the tournament, we will prepare the same. We're not going to be taking them lightly.
I've been to some decent grounds in the World Cup, and this weekend hopefully will be another great one.
For rugby league players to play in events like this is great.
Hopefully the England fans can get as many people to come to London as possible. The support we've had has been great and we always run out to a big roar like we've had at every game.
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