"So who will be boarding the plane for the foreboding 24 hour flight to the Land of the Long White Cloud?" Chris Marais runs down the options for Martin Johnson.

Where to start with England rugby? A rollercoaster World Cup, a second place in the Six Nations and some glimpses of decent, cohesive rugby mixed in with all the confusion.

Next up, a tour to New Zealand and the dawning of the Johnno era. Although he will not tour, due to the birth of his child, Martin Johnson will select the side, and the competition for places will be fierce.

So who will be boarding the plane for the foreboding 24 hour flight to the Land of the Long White Cloud?

Well, ideally a squad with a blend of youth and experience, in all areas of the pitch, with a real commitment to win rugby matches, rather than play to, or develop a 'style'.

With the team announcement due this week, it's time for a bit of good-old fashioned speculation. The players mentioned below are not necessarily the personnel Johnson will pick, but the men this writer would pick.

Let's start up front, an area that England will have hopes of dominating. The certainties are Andrew Sheridan and Matt Stevens, both world class players, with Stevens increasingly becoming central to England's hopes after some stunning displays for Bath, let's hope he stays fit. Mix in a couple of the younger guys such as Bristol's Jason Hobson and Gloucester's Nick Wood you've got a more than useful battery of props.

At hooker, Lee Mears looks to be the man in possession, but there are doubts about his contribution at the highest level. He is playing out of his skin for Bath at the moment, so deserves his chance and this tour could be making of him. George Chuter will always do a job, and it's time for Northampton's Dylan Hartley to take the step up to senior honours

Despite the widely held belief that England have an embarrassment of riches in the second row department, the likes of Alex Brown, Tom Palmer, Louis Deacon and Ben Kay (post 2003) have been unable to nail down spots alongside the more experienced go-to guys like Simon Shaw and Steve Borthwick.

Don't count Danny Grewcock out either - he is currently playing his best ever rugby in the all-action, offload-tastic Bath team, and could definitely make this squad.

However, Shaw, Borthwick and Grewcock are unlikely to make the next World Cup so two lesser known players must put their hands up now. Perhaps it's worth the likes of backrowers Luke Narraway and Jordan Crane considering a shift of position?

In the backrow it's time to find some balance, and youth should get the nod here, with the experience as back up.

Just picking three big units and saying, go play in the backrow will not be good enough in New Zealand. The key to this is the role of a specialist openside flanker.

Michael Lipman has bags of talent and has been quietly going about his business in an England shirt of late, and should retain his spot. James Haskell is a certainty, and should be played at No.8 rather than six, which is what should happen at Wasps when Lawrence Dallaglio retires.

Haskell shifting the to the more influencial position in the middle of the backrow frees up a space on the blindside, and Leicester's Tom Croft is the man to make that shirt his own.

Yes, the New Zealand backrow is a fearsome unit, but they are getting on a bit and this triumvirate has pace and power to burn, and can definitely be competitive. Sprinkle in the experience and steady hands of Joe Worsely, Nick Easter and if-fit Lewis Moody (who will run Lipman very close for the seven shirt) and you've got your squadron of breakaways.

Scrum-half is a position where there is a lot of potential. Richard Wigglesworth and Paul Hodgson and the pair that performed in the Six Nations and there is no reason why they should not continue, with Hodgson shading the starting slot on club form at the moment.

Harlequin Danny Care is pushing them hard, but if Harry Ellis is in a state to tour, then he must go and begin is rehabilitation to the starting line-up.

As for fly-half, or first five-eighth as the position is known in Kiwiland, it's Danny Cipriani, light the fuse and stand well back. I don't need to run through his qualities here, that's been done to death. He goes, he starts, he runs the game, he does the goal-kicking, he takes over the world.

The talking point in this position is the back-up, and the players I'm about to mention at 12 fill that role. Although, if the thinking is to deploy a closer, in the latter stages of a game, with Jonny Wilkinson paying a visit to the operating theatre next week, Charlie Hodgson (remember him?) can do a job.

In the midfield, there is genuine competition for the 12 shirt at last. Olly Barkely will push the incumbent Toby Flood all the way, and room also must be made for Shane Geraghty. And don't forget, all these guys can play 10 too.

Mike Tindall is often mentioned as a potential captain, but he just can't seem to stay fit as a function of his advancing years, and for that reason doesn't make this hypothetical selection. So we're looking at the yeoman Jamie Noon, and the seemingly perenially promising Danny Hipkiss to fight it out for the 13 shirt.

There is a lot of talent on the wings. OK, Lesley Vainikolo is a top bloke, and plays a bit, but he's not good enough to play in the England first team, simple as that. Paul Sackey is the number 1 wing and rightly so. He's worked at his game and is pretty much now the complete player.

David Strettle is always worth considering despite injury doubts, as he's a match-winner, and James Simpson-Daniel must be included. It's looking like last-chance saloon time for Sinbad, let's hope he can grab this opportunity.

So that leaves just the one spot, and I'd be inclined to take Matthew Tait over tyros such as Tom Varndell, Topsy Ojo and Miles Benjamin. Tait was brilliant in the World Cup final, has plenty to offer, and vitally can also play the pacy 13 role, as a different option to the battering rams of Noon and Hipkiss.

Fullback was the most contentious position during Brian Ashton's recent tenure. Iain Balshaw was continually picked and Josh Lewsey ignored. Now, Balshaw has his knockers and he is prone high profile mistakes, but if you watch him, week in, week out, you will see that he is a quality rugby player.

However, he has not done enough in an England shirt to warrant his continued first choice selection, but maybe just enough to make this squad. What is certain though is that it's time to give Lewsey his spot back with an extended run at fullback.

So there it is. Players love a clean slate and every tourist will be eager to stake a claim to a position in England's new regime under Martin Johnson. True competition for places and a joined-up selection strategy is at the heart of a winning set-up and this must be a priority for Johnson.

And don't forget not everything is sweetness and light in the New Zealand camp, with World Cup failure, the talent drain to Europe, and a patchy showing in the Super 14 all weighing heavy on the Kiwi psyche.

Any New Zealand side that takes the field will be favourites, but if England can get back to basics and key players stay fit, and in form, there is no reason why England cannot achieve success in New Zealand.

So England supporters can be hopeful that the guys who do pull on the white shirts at Eden Park in Auckland on 14 June will at least give the All Blacks a game. And I for one can't wait.