England skipper Martin Johnson has declared he is happy he doesn't have to deal with the media attention his football counterpart David Beckham has to face day in, day out.

Johnson, who is on a promotional tour for his new book, Agony and Ecstasy, a diary of his year that included the small matter of a domestic double, the Heineken Cup and a series defeat with the Lions in Australia.

Johnson, 31, told the Evening Standard, "David Beckham lives outside the sports pages in the gossip columns and I would find it difficult to have that kind of profile and I am sure he wishes he could do just normal things without being recognised.

"I can turn up somewhere and people will immediately say 'You're the England rugby captain' but at other times the comment will be 'Don't I know your face?' because they haven't really got a clue who I am.

"I am just leading a normal life and being - I hope - a normal bloke. Playing for Leicester means I am involved with a group of down-to-earth guys and no one is allowed to think they are special.

"We are fortunate to do a job that we enjoy and the players have become even closer since the game went professional because we spend more time together off the pitch."

Refering to the book's title Johnson explained, "The agony was definitely the second half of the Lions' Second Test in Melbourne against Australia when the whole game and the series turned around. To have dominated a Test match for 40 minutes and then to lose it was pretty galling. But to then let the series go in Sydney a week later left me hollow and empty.

"The ecstasy was lifting the Heineken Cup at Parc des Princes after beating Stade Francais in their own city with a very late try. To win the Cup that way was ideal.

"We had taken a lot of criticism at Leicester for not having previously won the Cup and after winning the League and the play-offs and then to fail to lift the European Cup would have been a huge downer."

Johnson will be in London on Thursday to sign copies of Agony and Ecstasy, at Sportspages in Charing Cross (12.15pm) and Borders in Kingston (7pm).