Johnson, captain of the Red Rose side which triumphed in Australia eight years ago, has already lost scrum-half Danny Care to a broken toe, while Simon Shaw has delayed his departure after contracting a stomach bug.

Doubts still persist over captain Lewis Moody’s knee – who missed the entire 2011 RBS 6 Nations – while Nick Easter and Tom Wood suffered muscle strains in the build-up to last weekend’s 20-9 defeat of Ireland.

And while Johnson expects all three to be fit in time for England’s opener against Argentina he holds no fears over using the full depth of his squad.

“I think the trip to Dublin, where we found ourselves playing a game in the face of considerable disruption, did us a lot of good,” said Johnson who also has doubts over the fitness of scrum-half Ben Youngs who has not featured in a single warm-up match.

“It was almost like a mini-World Cup, in terms of dealing with sudden injuries and finding ways to adapt.

“You want everyone fit all the time, obviously, but it didn't do us any harm to have Delon Armitage playing on the wing for an hour, to see Tom Croft operating on the open-side flank and Courtney Lawes performing on the blind.

“Tom Wood and Nick Easter, with their injuries in particular, and Mark Cueto should be fine by the end of the week.

“We trust all 30 and they'll have to play at some point.

“We've got good choices. We can choose slightly different players in positions and go with what we think is appropriate.

“We'll just pick the team, as we always do, that we think's the right one to win the game.”