James Ryan insists he won't allow the captaincy to distract him as he prepares to lead Ireland out for the first time on Saturday.
Ryan, 24, has long been seen as captaincy material and, after taking over the role against Wales last Friday night when Johnny Sexton came off injured after 28 minutes, the second row will take on the job from the start at Twickenham as Sexton is ruled out.
"To be honest it's the same for me this week as it is every week," said the Dubliner.
"I'm going to look to do my job pretty effectively.
"I hope to play well, not get sidetracked with all the captaincy stuff because I'm going to have to get my performance right just like everybody else is going to have to in order for us to get a result this weekend."
Ryan said that he takes comfort in having a host of experienced players around him that he can lean on.
Peter O'Mahony did so effectively alongside Ryan when Sexton went off against Wales.
"It's a huge honour for me, so I'm looking for to it and probably the great thing about it is I won't be on my own," Ryan said.
"There's guys like Peter O'Mahony there, Hendy (Iain Henderson), Earlsy (Keith Earls) - you know, a huge amount of experience.
"Johnny's in for the week as well, so we've very much been very much driving things together this week, as we usually would, so it's an exciting week for all of us."
But the big lock admitted that after the 32-9 victory last week, taking on England in the Autumn Nations Cup is a different story.
Twickenham is rarely a happy ground for Ireland, who haven't won there since clinching the Grand Slam in London in 2018.
"There's probably a little bit of fear in every Test match at this level, whether it's going to Paris or going to Twickenham," Ryan remarked.
"The level is so high, it's going to take such a big effort to get what you want from it. So there's always a little bit of fear, but there's also a lot of excitement.
"It's a huge opportunity for us and we're all massively excited for it."
And the chance for some revenge for February's disappointing showing at Twickenham in the Six Nations?
"It’s probably a little bit different as well, you’ve got to be conscious this is in a group for us. It’s a new chapter," said Ryan, who will make his 30th Test appearance on Saturday.
"How many guys have won new caps recently? Obviously it’s a new coaching group.
"We came out the wrong side of the result last time out but I think as a group we’re making good progress.
"This weekend is a real test to see where we’re at, coming up against World Cup finalists so it’s obviously a big challenge.
"We’re going to need intensity, obviously. Set-piece and defence is massive for us this week, it’s huge at this level, especially away from home.
"Looking at that game that we lost, obviously we didn’t start well.
"You’ve got to start well at this level, you’ve got to start well going away to Twickenham because if you give a side like England momentum they’re very, very hard to stop.
"They're areas of the game that are really big for us this week".
