But he is happy to miss England’s World Cup opener in Germany as he prepares for another step forward in an international career he thought was over three years ago.

"I’ll try and watch as much of the World Cup as possible - I’ll probably even watch the games that England aren’t playing in!" said Johmstom.

"But I’ll have my game-head on tomorrow and I’ll have to focus on what we’re doing. At the end of the day it is a job and we are here to do it – it would be unthinkable to have two straight defeats so everyone has got to pull out the stops.

"I was a bit shocked when JC (coach Jon Callard) asked me. It was a bit out of the blue – I thought he was going to tell me that I wasn’t going to be playing. I’m really looking forward to the challenge.

"I’ve never captained a representative team before and it’s a great honour. I think I bring a little bit of experience to the side. There are a lot of young players and I’m probably one of the older ones at 27! But as far as I’m aware the captaincy is just for one game and I’ll just take it as it comes."

Sent to the 2003 Churchill Cup from New Zealand, where he was surplus to requirements as England beat the All Blacks and then the Wallabies as a World Cup rehearsal, Johnston has not figured in an England squad since.

"I did honestly think I wouldn’t get an opportunity to get involved with any other squads. I got two caps in 2002 and I thought that was it and I wouldn’t get the chance to reach the big stage again," he added.

"Things weren’t going very well at the club and we were fighting relegation for a couple of years but we've had a good run towards the end of the season and you do get noticed. Hopefully I showed last week that I’m still hungry for international rugby and I can do that again this week."

With 16 fixtures between now and the 2007 World Cup Andy Robinson will cast an eye from Australia to see how these Saxons get on.

"There is a lot of rugby to be played and at any one point anyone could get injured, have a loss of form or pick up a bit of form," said Johnston.

"There are a lot of places up for grabs especially the way things have been going with results not going our way, and people who stand up and play well will be considered."

Callard has been forced into a back-three reshuffle with Alex Crockett replacing his Bath team-mate Andrew Higgins, who strained his left foot ligaments in training yesterday, and Ayoola Erinle coming on to the bench.

But Johnston is still excited about the prospect of seeing the backs shine, saying: "I’m looking forward to seeing them play, hopefully with a dry ball. We have a lot of pace in the backline and hopefully we will be able to see them have a bit of a run."

England Saxons: D Armitage (London Irish); R Haughton (Saracens), B Johnston (capt, Saracens), C Bell (Leeds Tykes), A Crockett (Bath Rugby); D Walder (Newcastle Falcons), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), M Ward (Newcastle Falcons), D Paice (London Irish), R Morris (Newcastle Falcons), N Kennedy (London Irish), K Roche (London Irish), L Narraway (Gloucester), D Seymour (Saracens), K Horstmann (Worcester Warriors). Reps: J Buckland (Leicester Tigers), D Barnes (Bath Rugby), J Hudson (Bath Rugby), B Woods (Newcastle Falcons), C Stuart-Smith (Llanelli Scarlets), S Vesty (Leicester Tigers), A Erinle (London Wasps).