Johnson names six uncapped players

New England manager Martin Johnson named six uncapped players in a 32-man squad on Tuesday for next month's two-test tour of New Zealand, his first selection since taking over from former coach Brian Ashton.

The London Irish trio of Nick Kennedy, David Paice and Topsy Ojo were included for the first time alongside Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care, Bristol prop Jason Hobson and hooker Dylan Hartley of Northampton.

Lock Steve Borthwick will captain the side in the absence of the prop Phil Vickery, who is recovering from a knee injury. Fly-half Jonny Wilkinson also misses out with shoulder problems.

The major selection casualties appear to be Gloucester backs Iain Balshaw and Lesley Vainikolo.

Full-back Balshaw started all five of England's Six Nations Tests, while former Bradford Bulls wing Vainikolo made his debut off the bench against Wales and then kept his place for the remaining four fixtures.

Wasps wing Paul Sackey, meanwhile, has been named in the squad despite suffering a knee injury during his club's Guinness Premiership victory over Leeds Carnegie last weekend.

Gloucester wing James Simpson-Daniel looks to have missed out due to pending shoulder surgery, but England will still travel with a strong blend of youth and experience.

Among those players with points to prove will be 65 times capped Wasps flanker Joe Worsley, who missed the entire Six Nations campaign.

And his injury-hit Wasps team-mate Tom Rees must look to put recent injury problems behind him and mount a challenge for the number seven shirt currently worn by Bath's Michael Lipman.

There is also a welcome recall for Gloucester centre Mike Tindall, whose season appeared to be over after he was seriously hurt during England's Six Nations opener against Wales at Twickenham.

Tindall spent three days in the intensive care unit of a London hospital with problems to his liver and internal bleeding.

But he returned to action in Gloucester's Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat against Munster last month, and he would undoubtedly have been among the captaincy candidates considered by Johnson.

Of the uncapped brigade, much interest will revolve around the selection of Hartley.

The New Zealand-born prospect was on course to make England's World Cup squad last year, but he was cited and then banned for 26 weeks after being found guilty of gouging during a club game.

Despite playing the whole of this season in National League One with the Saints, he has maintained a high level of form and is likely to gain a place in England's Test 22 for the All Blacks opener on June 14.

Ojo produced an outstanding try-scoring display during Irish's Heineken Cup semi-final defeat against Toulouse last month, while Care inspired Harlequins to the brink of this season's Premiership play-offs.

Vainikolo and Balshaw though, two consistent selections during the reign of former England head coach Brian Ashton, clearly now both face tough challenges for further Test recognition, despite the Johnson era being in its early stages.

England fly to New Zealand on June 2. Johnson's contract does not begin until July 1 and while he remains in England with his pregnant wife, the Rugby Football Union's Elite Rugby director Rob Andrew will oversee the Tests in Auckland on June 14 and Christchurch on June 21.

SQUAD
Backs: Mike Brown, Paul Sackey, David Strettle, Topsy Ojo, Mathew Tait, Mike Tindall, Jamie Noon, Toby Flood, Olly Barkley, Danny Cipriani, Charlie Hodgson, Richard Wigglesworth, Peter Richards, Danny Care

Forwards: Matt Stevens, Andrew Sheridan, Tim Payne, Jason Hobson, Lee Mears, Dylan Hartley, David Paice, Nick Kennedy, Steve Borthwick (captain), Ben Kay, Tom Palmer, Tom Croft, James Haskell, Joe Worsley, Michael Lipman, Tom Rees, Nick Easter, Luke Narraway