James Graham was full of praise yesterday for the influence new England head coach Wayne Bennett has brought to the side and is expecting Sam Burgess to make a similar impact as captain.

The former St Helens prop was chosen by Bennett to lead England in Saturday’s 40-6 win over France in Avignon while newly appointed skipper Burgess served a one-match ban carried over from the NRL.

Graham was pleased with England’s first performance under their new boss, who he says is already starting to make a big impression on the players.

“He’s really impressed me and everybody that he’s spoken to,” the Canterbury Bulldogs skipper said.

“He keeps things quite simple and instils a lot of confidence and belief into his players.

“Defensively we were pretty good against France and our attack got better as the game wore on.

“Moving forward, we’d look to improve but I’m pretty pleased with how we went about Saturday’s game against a really committed French outfit.”

Graham extended his record as England’s most capped international by leading his country out at Parc des Sports for the fourth time on his 30th appearance but will hand over the captaincy to Burgess for Saturday’s Four Nations opener with New Zealand in Huddersfield.

The pair have clashed a number of times on the field in Australia, including the last match of the 2016 NRL season but insist they remain friends off it. Graham says he has no problem with the South Sydney forward taking over the captain’s armband as he ends a three-year self-imposed exile from international rugby league.

“I’m 100 per cent happy with that,” Graham said.

“I’m really pleased for him. To be handed the captaincy is massive and I can’t wait to stand alongside him and follow his lead because he’s an outstanding leader.

“I’m genuinely excited to be playing with him again. It’s been a long time. I’m really happy he’s not running against me like he does at Souths. For whatever reasons, he decided to try something new but he’s back where he belongs.

“He’s one of the best forwards in the world and has been for a long time and to have him playing with us, helping us try to achieve our goals, is massive.”

Although England begin their Four Nations campaign on the back of a 2-1 Test series win over the Kiwis, they remain the underdogs with the bookmakers and Graham is refusing to look too far ahead.

“It’s boring to say this but it’s very much a week-by-week thing,” he said.