Johnson has toured all three Lions destinations - captaining the cream of British Isles rugby to glory against the Springboks in 1997 - and believes New Zealand provides the biggest challenge.

He played two Tests against the All Blacks during the 1993 Lions tour after an injury to Wade Dooley resulted in an unexpected call-up, although his presence could not prevent a 2-1 series defeat.

A decade later he led England to their first victory against the Tri-Nations giants on New Zealand soil for 30 years, so the Tigers lock knows more than most the size of the task facing the side.

Winning a Test series in New Zealand is tougher than winning the World Cup. If you think about it, you have to play the All Blacks three times and beat them twice, which is a very hard thing to do, he said.

Its a very, very difficult place to tour and they always field an excellent side. All the sides you play - whether club, provincial or Test - are very competitive. They are very keen to beat the Lions and want to take it out of you physically.

Any tour to New Zealand can be a very intense experience because of the popularity of the game Down Under, and the Lions will find their every move scrutinised by a public eager to devour every scrap of information on the visitors.

Its a relatively small rugby-mad country and theres no escape from the game down there. Youre in the firing line the whole time and everyone knows who you are, what you do and how well you played in the last game, he said.

But if the guys go out there with the right attitude and enjoy themselves, they can win the Test series. It has been done very few times in history by anyone in the world, but it can be done.