He made his test debut against in the opening game of the 1993 Five Nations Championship on 16 January 1993. He was due to play in an England 'A' game when he was unexpectedly summoned to Twickenham to replace the injured Wade Dooley. With only a 20-minute line-out session with his new teammates before the game, Johnson was thrown into the deep end. An early clash of heads with French prop Laurent Seigne left Johnson concussed, but he continued to play as England won 16–15. Johnson did not feature again for England in the Five Nations that season but was called up for an uncapped tour to Canada. After featuring in England's loss to Canada he was called up, again as a replacement for Dooley, for the 1993 British Lions tour to New Zealand. Dooley had returned to England for his father's funeral and was blocked from returning to the tour by the Lions' own committee. Johnson played in the final two tests against New Zealand.