Youngsters will be blooded on 'toughest tour' of New Zealand - Johnson
Martin Johnson, England's new manager, expects the tour to New Zealand to be one of the toughest in the career of the 32 men he has selected to represent the country. The 38-year-old World Cup winning captain named six uncapped players to fly out to New Zealand next month, but he hopes that it will harden them.
He said: "It will be as tough a tour as they will ever go on in New Zealand. There has never been a bad All Black team in history.
"They will be a formidable side. But we have to concentrate on our performance.
"There are some exciting young players in the squad and if we can try and get them involved - either starting or off the bench - then we will.
"There are a few changes from the Six Nations and there is a limited amount of time that team has together before the first Test - to start with it will be about getting on the ground, getting over the jet lag and playing that first Test match."
Johnson also gave his reasons for selecting Steve Borthwick as captain in the absence of injured prop Phil Vickery.
"With Phil not being available - with his injury we decided not to consider him - Steve was an obvious choice," continued the former lock.
"I think he is very well respected in the squad; he is an established international and a model player in the way he approaches the game. He was a natural choice to lead the squad."
Comments
Add a comment
Be the first to comment on this
If you are a Gambling.com member, please login at the top left of this page.
If you are not a Gambling.com member, please complete our sign up form—membership is free and it takes just a minute or two to sign up.