Johnson made his debut for Leicester Tigers in 1989 and in 1993 debuted for as well as being a late call up to the 1993 British Lions tour to New Zealand. He was a try scorer in the final when Leicester won the 1993 Pilkington Cup and a member of the side which won the 1994-95 Courage League. Johnson was an ever-present as England won the Grand Slam in the 1995 Five Nations Championship. In 1997 he was named as captain for the victorious British Lions tour to South Africa, in 2001 he became the first man to captain the Lions twice as he led the 2001 British &amp; Irish Lions tour to Australia.