However the Bath flanker had been optimistic he would be ready for the Pumas clash and although Johnson had no worries he will be back in action sooner rather than later, he believes there’s no point in throwing him at the deep end.

“Lewis won't play at the weekend,” Johnson said. “He is not quite ready to go today. We hoped he would be fit to start training but he is not quite there.

“The medics and the fitness guys took him through a progression of training and we hoped it would all be ready to go today but he is just a little bit short.

“We are very happy with the other guys so it is a very simple decision to hold him back another week.

“It is the opening game of what hopefully is a long tournament so you can force these things sometimes and that can go either way.

“He has been running around today so he is not a million miles away. It is just one of those calls, 'are you ready to participate fully this week and play a Test match this Saturday?' Not quite.”

Centre Mike Tindall is favourite to take over the captaincy from Moody having filled in during England’s first Six Nations title in eight years while James Haskell is likely to take the No.7 shirt.