Johnson puts faith in a safe pair of hands by naming Borthwick his England captain

The new England supremo will resist calls for the anointing of James Haskell or Mike Tindall and plump for Steve Borthwick's safe pair of hands to lead a squad of 32 into next month's back-to-back Tests against New Zealand.

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Borthwick, the junior partner in the second row alongside Johnson at Twickenham seven years ago when England ran up a record win over France, did the job as a one-off against Italy in February when Phil Vickery withdrew due to illness on the morning of the match.

Last minute medical reports on Vickery's continuing struggle with a damaged knee left Johnson no option but to pick a new captain.

The Bath second row has always been the safest pair of hands, although Haskell's time will come and Tindall will be otherwise occupied trying to regain his place at outside centre from the much-improved and under-rated Jamie Noon.

Vickery, out of action since injuring the medial ligament of his right knee for Wasps against Sale a month ago, will not be fit for his club's Premiership play-off semi-final against Borthwick's Bath on Sunday.

Vickery said: "You have to be 100 per cent happy in yourself. There are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes and I know it's not ready yet. Life goes on. It's not the end of the world."

Johnson's first selection, assembled three weeks after his appointment, will reflect England's on-going evolution. It will feature up to five uncapped players, but there will be casualties from the World Cup squad.

One of former head coach Brian Ashton's more controversial choices, Lesley Vainikolo, will not be going home to New Zealand but one of England's young guns will.

Dylan Hartley, a 22-year-old from Rotorua, took a gap-year trip to visit a relative in Crowborough five years ago and has stayed ever since. Northampton's hooker is so highly regarded that he makes the senior squad despite spending the season helping the Saints cut their unbeaten swathe through the First Division.

Hartley would probably have made the World Cup last year had he not been serving a six-month ban for gouging.

Former England hooker and Northampton forwards' coach Dorian West said: "Dylan's taken big steps to get that niggly rubbish out of his game. He was allowing himself to get distracted but not any more. He's worked really hard to get the focus into his game."

Lee Mears, one of Borthwick's key lieutenants in the Bath pack, will go as the undisputed No 1 hooker now that Mark Regan has run out of time, four caps short of his cherished desire to reach a half-century.

West said: "Other than Lee, there are not a lot of other hookers saying: "You can't leave me out". To give Dylan some big-match Test experience would be the right thing to do."

Harlequins scrum half Danny Care, once a budding striker with Sheffield Wednesday, is the one newcomer most likely to force his way into the starting XV.

Harry Ellis, England's undisputed first choice before a knee injury 12 months ago, will be left at home on medical advice to further his recovery with next autumn's Test series in mind. D

Danny Grewcock, as formidable as ever at 35, has been under serious consideration for the trip in a second row department which deserves to be rejuvenated by the advent of Nick Kennedy from London Irish.

England's shortage of tightheads leaves Matt Stevens out on his own, with Bristol's Jason Hobson likely to edge out the South African Pat Barnard for the back-up role.

Topsy Ojo, London Irish's 22-year-old from Tottenham who electrified Twickenham at last month's European Cup semi-final against Toulouse, is in line to join the squadron of wingers at the expense of Mark Cueto. Once an automatic choice, the Sale player has been out of sorts since his disallowed try during the World Cup Final, while also missing matches through injury.

Olly Barkley (Bath), Danny Cipriani (Wasps), Akapusi Qera (Gloucester), Paul Sackey (Wasps) and James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester) have been nominated for the Guinness Player of the Season award, while Cipriani, Care, Matt Banahan (Bath), Ben Foden (Sale) and Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) will fight it out for the Land Rover Discovery of the season.