The latest England squad to tour the southern hemisphere will be the strongest to cross the Equator since the World Cup-winning year of 2003, and as a consequence, results will be paramount according to Chris Hewett in The Indepdendent.
"The vast majority of the Elite Player Squad picked by the manager back in January will be present and correct, supplemented by a 20-strong group who can claim to be among the form players in the Premiership – or, in the case of Tom Palmer of Stade Français, the French Top 14 tournament. Johnson now has David Flatman, the best of England's loose-head props, at his disposal, along with a revitalised Olly Barkley, a rejuvenated Charlie Hodgson, a bristling Joe Simpson, a confident Dominic Waldouck and a clutch of new back-five forwards – Dave Attwood of Gloucester, Geoff Parling of Leicester, Hendre Fourie of Leeds – who will look to lay down a marker ahead of next year's World Cup in New Zealand.
"All told, then, this is a useful party – one that should be more than capable of avoiding the utter humiliation routinely associated with English encroachments on Wallaby territory."
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