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Borthwick to lead England in NZ
13/05/2008 12:24 - (SA)
London - Bath lock Steve Borthwick will captain England on their two-Test tour of New Zealand next month taking over from the injured Phil Vickery.
Capped 37 times for his country, Borthwick has recent experience of the role after acting as captain for England's Six Nations victory over Italy in February.
He will be in charge of a 32-man squad - the first of Martin Johnson's reign as England manager - that includes six uncapped players.
The newcomers are London Irish wing Topsy Ojo, Harlequins scrumhalf Danny Care, Bristol prop Jason Hobson, Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley, London Irish hooker David Paice and his club colleague, lock Nick Kennedy.
Apart from Vickery, who has a knee injury, other absentees from the Six Nations campaign include flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson, who is absent through shoulder surgery, Wasps lock Simon Shaw and Bristol hooker Mark Regan.
But the major selection casualties appear to be Gloucester backs Iain Balshaw and Lesley Vainikolo.
Fullback 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.
England's 32-man squad:
Backs:
Olly Barkley, Mike Brown, Danny Care, Danny Cipriani, Toby Flood, Charlie Hodgson, Jamie Noon, Topsy Ojo, Peter Richards, Paul Sackey, David Strettle, Mathew Tait, Mike Tindall, Richard Wigglesworth
Forwards:
Steve Borthwick (captain), Tom Croft, Nick Easter, Dylan Hartley, James Haskell, Jason Hobson, Ben Kay, Nick Kennedy, Michael Lipman, Lee Mears, Luke Narraway, David Paice, Tom Palmer, Tim Payne, Tom Rees, Andrew Sheridan, Matt Stevens, Joe Worsley
Fixtures:
June 14: New Zealand v England, Auckland
June 21: New Zealand v England, Christchurch
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