Borthwick an ‘obvious choice’, says Johnson

11:03am Wednesday 14th May 2008

NEW England captain Steve Borthwick has been backed as a model player'' to set the rigorous standards demanded on next month's New Zealand tour.

Manager Martin Johnson - the last man to skipper a victorious England team against the All Blacks in New Zealand - believes Borthwick is an obvious choice for leadership duties.

Bath lock Borthwick is one of only 13 survivors from England's 2007 World Cup squad who will head to New Zealand on June 2 for Test matches in Auckland and Christchurch.

The list of medical absentees includes established international players like Jonny Wilkinson, Phil Vickery, Josh Lewsey, Simon Shaw and Lewis Moody, while leading tour contenders such as James Simpson-Daniel and Shane Geraghty face summer shoulder surgery.

But Gloucester backs Iain Balshaw and Lesley Vainikolo - regular, if debatable, RBS 6 Nations selections under former England head coach Brian Ashton this season - have been overlooked.

Borthwick, who captained his country against Italy earlier this term, will have three members of England's 50-cap club to lean on for support - 2003 World Cup winners Mike Tindall, Ben Kay and Joe Worsley.

Tindall is back on England duty for the first time since he suffered liver damage and internal bleeding during England's Six Nations opener against Wales in February, which meant he spent three days in the intensive care unit of a London hospital.

But the squad also includes six Test rookies in London Irish trio Topsy Ojo, David Paice and Nick Kennedy, Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care, Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley and Bristol prop Jason Hobson.

And Johnson, who misses the tour in order to be with his pregnant wife, has backed 37 t i m e s - c a p p e d Borthwick's captaincy credentials.

Johnson said: He is very well respected among the squad, an established international player and a very good leader.

He is a model player the way he approaches the game, and he was a natural choice to lead the squad.

But lots of other guys have a leadership influence on the team.

I think people always put too much emphasis on who is the captain.'' Borthwick, who joins Saracens later this summer, has driven Bath to within three wins of achieving a domestic and European double this season.

And he was on the bench when England beat New Zealand 15-13 in Wellington five years ago, one of only two red rose away victories over the All Blacks from 10 attempts since 1963.

Such a statistic underlines the degree of difficulty facing Borthwick and company, even though New Zealand will be without a growing overseas-based contingent, which means England will not have to worry about the likes of Byron Kelleher, Chris Jack, Doug Howlett or Luke McAlister.

England squad: 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).

■ Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan is expected to be confirmed as head coach of the 2009 British and Irish Lions today - and dissenting voices are impossible to find. McGeechan, 61, has a wealth of experience and he will lead an assault on world champions South Africa.