Rugby: Johnson Ready for One Last Hurrah

When Martin Johnson walks off the Twickenham pitch tonight and takes off his jersey for the final time, it will mark the last bow of arguably the most significant player of his generation.

The former Leicester, England and Lions captain is ending his 17-year career with a testimonial match between teams he and the New Zealand wing Jonah Lomu have gathered from the two hemispheres.

While Johnson is retiring, Lomu is returning after a two-year absence through a debilitating illness which required a kidney transplant, looking to prove his fitness for the fray having signed a contract with the New Zealand provincial side North Harbour.

"I am 35 and have been very fortunate with injuries throughout my career," said Johnson. "When I look at what Jonah has been through, I feel very lucky. I am delighted that he is back playing this weekend, even though he virtually single-handedly knocked England out of two World Cups.

"It has not really sunk in that Saturday is it for me, and perhaps it will not do so until next season, but I will walk off Twickenham proud of what I have achieved in my career."

Johnson has won everything going: the World Cup with England in 2003, the 1997 series against South Africa with the Lions and league, cup and European medals with Leicester. He personified the unsmiling professionalism which took England to the very top.

Nearly half his career was spent as an amateur, and though he was well versed in the law of the jungle - to the very end he kept disciplinary committees busy and last month escaped a ban which would have ruled him out of the Premiership final against Wasps - he embraced the demands of the modern game. Johnson was not just an enforcer who was proficient in the set-pieces, but he contributed fully in the loose, handling and tackling with relish.

If, unlike his former Australia second row rival John Eales, Johnson never attempted a drop goal from the halfway line or volunteered to take a penalty, he was a complete player.

Despite booking his place in rugby folklore years ago, Johnson is not a romantic. He played to win and his means were always to that end.