Harlequins scrum half Danny Care and London Irish wing Topsy Ojo, 21 and 22 respectively, are the backs rewarded for the quality and consistency of their performances.

"With Phil Vickery unavailable - we decided not to consider him with the injury that he has got - Steve was an obvious choice," said Johnson.

"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. There are guys like Mike Tindall there as well who is one of the most experienced players and a few others will have to step up with the absence of a few senior guys."

Johnson will hand over charge of the team to Elite Rugby Director Rob Andrew for the tour while he and wife Kay await the birth of their second child.

He confirmed he would stay in touch with the coaching team on a daily basis during what he expects will be a "formidable" challenge for the 2007 World Cup finalists.

"New Zealand have lost some players and it's the same for every team post World Cup, but there's never been a bad All Black team in the history of the game," said Johnson. "They'll all have lots of international experience and will be a formidable side.

"We need to concentrate on our own performance. You can play a pretty good game against the All Blacks and be beaten but we think we're going in with a good group of guys we believe can perform well.

"It's all about attitude and the mood of the team is all important because playing New Zealand in New Zealand is one of the most difficult things to do."

Simon Shaw, Lesley Vainikolo, Iain Balshaw are among those missing the tour with Jonny Wilkinson, James Simpson-Daniel, Lewis Moody and Shane Geraghty, like Vickery, ruled out through injury.

"We felt it was important that Simon Shaw got himself over a lot of the niggles he's picked up over the years and had a good off-season," said Johnson.

"Whenever anyone's injured it gives someone an opportunity and if we come back with guys we know can handle international rugby, we'll have a much stronger squad.

"We'll be catching up with Lesley as a coaching team and a fitness team. He needs a good off-season and fitness work to get himself ready for next season.

"Iain Balshaw has still got some rugby to play and he's an established international player. I spoke to him and told him we think Mike Brown is ahead of him at the moment and he accepted that and can have a break and get in top physical condition."

England play New Zealand at Auckland on June 14 and at Christchurch on June 21 (both 8.35am BST) and live on Sky Sports.

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