Martin Johnson revealed that appointing Steve Borthwick as captain for the summer tour of New Zealand was an "obvious choice".
New England boss had no hesitation in appointing Borthwick
England manager Martin Johnson revealed that appointing Steve Borthwick as captain for the summer tour of New Zealand was an "obvious choice".
With established skipper Phil Vickery currently sidelined with a knee injury, Johnson unveiled his new leader on Tuesday, and also emphasised the importance the more experienced players will have on the two-Test tour.
"With Phil unavailable through injury - we decided not to consider him with the injury that he has got - Steve was an obvious choice," Johnson said on
Sky Sports News.
"He is very well respected and he's an established international player, he's a very good leader and a model player in the way he approaches the game - he was a natural choice to lead the squad.
"There are lots of other guys who will have a leadership influence on the team. I think people always put too much emphasis on who is the captain. It's a leadership role amongst others.
"There are guys like Mike Tindall there as well who is one of the most experienced players. A few others well have to step up with the absence of a few senior guys."
Exciting youngsters
With six uncapped players selected in the 32-man touring party, Johnson believes a debut clash with the All Blacks in their own back yard will provide a fantastic opportunity for the younger players to showcase their talent.
"There are some exciting young players there, it's as tougher tour as you're ever going to go on, to go to New Zealand," he said.
"If we think the time is right to get them involved either starting or off the bench then we will do it.
"It's always the same for any team after the World Cup but there has never been a weak All Black team, probably in the history of the game."
Even with big names such as Luke McAllister and Chris Jack absent from the New Zealand squad, Johnson still expects the All Blacks to be a "formidable" proposition.
However, the 2003 World Cup winning captain still has every confidence that his new-look side can spring an upset in the southern hemisphere - providing all players perform to their potential.
Formidable
"We have got to concentrate on our own performance," he said.
"They will have a few guys in there who weren't maybe their starters but they will all have had international experience and they will be a formidable side.
"We have to concentrate on our own performance, there is been a few changes from the Six Nations.
"We always want to play well, performance is what it is all about, you can play a pretty good game against the All Blacks and still get beaten but we feel the team and players we have got, if they play to their potential can be very competitive."
One of a number of notable absentees from the squad is Wasps lock Simon Shaw, Johnson explained his decision by saying: "In discussion with him [Shaw] we felt it was important that he had a good off-season.
"It gives a number of other guys an opportunity to wear the No.4 shirt and try and establish themselves."
Injury list
Johnson confirmed that Josh Lewsey, Harry Ellis, James Simpson-Daniel, Louis Deacon, Jonny Wilkinson, Shane Geraghty, Vickery, and Lewis Moody are all ruled out through injury, however the decision to axe Gloucester duo Lesley Vainikolo and Iain Balshaw was based on ability.
"I had a conversation with Lesley yesterday and we will be catching up with him as a coaching team and a fitness team in the off-season to try and improve him as a player," said Johnson.
"He has also got a few medical issues and he needs a good off-season of rest and fitness work.
"Iain is another player who we will catch up with in the off-season and let him know exactly where he stands.
"He's an established international who has played a lot of Test matches but we have decided to take Mike Brown who we thought was ahead of him at the moment, and he accepted that."
London Irish wing Topsy Ojo was another name to appear in the England squad for the first time and Johnson admitted it was a close call between the Exiles speedster and a number of players in that position.
"It was a very close call between Topsy and the guys on the Saxons tour but we felt he just edged it in terms of performance," he said.
"He is a very exciting player as is Tom Varndell and ideally I would like to see those other guys come through and be international class players."
