As was widely predicted, Steve Borthwick has been named as England captain for next month's tour to New Zealand. Borthwick, who has been capped 37 times by England, recently led the side to victory against Italy in the Six Nations. With Jonny Wilkinson and Phil Vickery both unable to join the 32-man squad because of their respective injuries Borthwick was, as Johnson suggested, an obvious choice to lead.

While the tour to New Zealand will be overseen by Rob Andrew (Johnson being unavailable due to complications surrounding his wife's pregnancy), there is no doubt that this selection bears the mark of the new coach. Six uncapped players have been included, all of them in excellent recent form in the Guinness Premiership; Danny Care and Topsy Ojo are included in the backs, the latter joined by his London Irish team-mates David Paice and Nick Kennedy. Bristol prop Jason Hobson and Northampton's hefty hooker Dylan Hartley add extra bulk to the pack.

Two conspicuous absences from Brian Ashton's Six Nations' squads are Lesley Vainikolo and Iain Balshaw, both dropped. Shane Geraghty, Simon Shaw and James Simpson-Daniel join Wilkinson and Vickery as players undergoing surgery over the summer. Olly Barkley and Mike Brown are recalled while Paul Sackey has been included despite suffering a knee injury when playing for Wasps against Leeds last weekend.

Just as Johnson was in his career, Borthwick is regarded as an intelligent lock-forward and an inspirational leader. He has been a highly-regarded captain of Bath for several seasons, but was stripped of the title earlier this year after announcing that he was moving to Saracens this summer, a decision ostensibly motivated by his desire for a fresh challenge but presumably also influenced by Bath's notoriously tight salary cap. Unlike Johnson's though, Borthwick's career has been hindered by his lack of physical presence. While he is considered to be one of the finest line-out leaders in the country, his comparative lack of bulk means that he has been regarded as less effective than fellow locks such as Shaw and his clubmate Danny Grewcock, who was another noticeable omission.

While Johnson spoke eloquently and freely in justifying his selection, alongside him Rob Andrew was unable to provide any explanation of why England were yet to appoint a backs coach or whether Brian Ashton had agreed to work with the England Academy.

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The England squad in full:

Backs: M Brown (Harlequins), P Sackey (Wasps), D Strettle (Harlequins), T Ojo (London Irish), M Tait (Newcastle), M Tindall (Gloucester), J Noon (Newcastle), T Flood (Newcastle), O Barkley (Bath), D Cipriani (Wasps), C Hodgson (Sale Sharks), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), P Richards (London Irish), D Care (Harlequins).

Forwards: A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), T Payne (Wasps), M Stevens (Bath), J Hobson (Bristol), L Mears (Bath), D Hartley (Northampton), D Paice (London Irish), S Borthwick (Bath, capt), B Kay (Leicester), N Kennedy (London Irish), T Palmer (Wasps), T Croft (Leicester), J Haskell (Wasps), J Worsley (Wasps), M Lipman (Bath), T Rees (Wasps), N Easter (Harlequins), L Narraway (Gloucester).

England Saxons squad for the Churchill Cup:
Backs: N Abendanon (Bath), A Allen (Gloucester), M Banahan (Bath), L Dickson (Newcastle), B Foden (Sale Sharks), P Hodgson (London Irish), A Jarvis (Harlequins), R Lamb (Gloucester), U Monye (Harlequins), O Smith (Leicester), T Varndell (Leicester), D Waldouck (Wasps).

Forwards: S Armitage (London Irish), R Blaze (Leicester), A Brown (Gloucester), G Chuter (Leicester), A Clarke (Bristol), J Crane (Leicester), J Forster (Gloucester), T Guest (Harlequins), C Jones (Sale Sharks), N Lloyd (Saracens), C Robshaw (Harlequins), W Skinner (Harlequins, capt), G Skivington (Wasps), A Titterrell (Gloucester), R Webber (Wasps), D Wilson (Newcastle).