Former British and Irish Lions captain Martin Johnson believes the squad selection will be "vital" for the 2009 tour to South Africa.
Former Lions skipper calls for 'strong characters' to tour in 2009
Former British and Irish Lions captain Martin Johnson believes the squad selection will be "vital" for the 2009 tour to South Africa.
Johnson guided the Lions to victory in South Africa in 1997 before leading the side to Australia four years later, while the former Leicester lock also played in eight Tests over three tours for the home unions.
And having completed the clean sweep of tours for the Lions, Johnson is being widely tipped to travel to South Africa again - although this time in a coaching capacity.
The Lions committee are not due to make an announcement of the coaching team until after next year's RBS Six Nations, with the squad unlikely to be named until after the 2009 tournament.
Vital
And Johnson believes whoever is in charge needs to get the right players on board if the Lions are to topple the Boks again.
He said: "The selection is vital. You need to get the right people and characters - strong people and strong characters.
"Seven weeks away is a difficult thing to do, especially playing against the world champions, so it is going to be tough.
"The guys will need to rely on each other to get through."
The Lions will travel to the Springboks on the back of having been whitewashed by the All Blacks in 2005.
However Johnson, who retired after leading England to the World Cup in 2003, was full of praise for the New Zealanders.
"I think in 05 the Lions also probably faced one of the best teams we'd ever seen in the All Blacks in difficult circumstances.
"They played some of the best rugby I had ever seen... if not the best."
