Martin Johnson used to be rather good at the numbers game during his playing days – “You thump me once, I’ll thump you twice” – but those doing the maths in respect of the new England manager’s first shot at team selection must be scratching their heads in disbelief at the pace and scale of change. Johnson is sending six uncapped players, plus a fistful of international rookies, to New Zealand for next month’s Test series with the All Blacks. Remarkably, less than 50 per cent of the party who crossed the water for last autumn’s World Cup campaign in France will board the plane to Auckland.

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