LIST | The 4 players Warren Gatland cut from his 2017 Lions squad

The Lions boss was criticised for the “mystifying” omission of Launchbury after revealing the Wasps captain had lost out to England team-mate Courtney Lawes for the final second-row place in the Lions squad. The Lions coach’s desire for a hard edge to take on New Zealand persuaded him to turn to Lawes and overlook England’s player of the 2017 Six Nations. Gatland admitted Launchbury was “very, very unlucky

“There was a long discussion about second rows, and the depth and the quality that we’ve got in those positions,” he said.

“We weren’t going to leave out Alun Wyn Jones or Maro Itoje – they were nailed on for us – and Iain Henderson has done an exceptional job for Ireland. We just discussed the differences between Courtney and Joe and they are different players.

Roberts had been touted in some quarters to be chosen for a third successive Lions tour, having starred in South Africa eight years ago and then on the 2013 Australia trip, but he did not make the 41-player cut.

Gatland instead went with England's Jonathan Joseph, who has impressed during the 2017 Six Nations.

"You are disappointed not to make a Lions squad, and I was as disappointed as any player who missed out on it.

"You mope around for about a day, and you dust yourself off and get back to training hard and playing your best."

Ross Moriarty, Jared Payne and Tommy Seymour all received surprise call-ups, while Ken Owens and Rory Best were both included ahead of Hartley.

‘Dylan’s definitely one of the players who’s been unlucky; it’s probably not the best thing to be an England captain in a Lions year,’ said Gatland.

'You’ve got to feel for him – he missed out in 2013 having been selected and he’ s unlucky to have missed out this time."

Watson was arguably the Scot with the biggest case. He was outstanding during the 2017 Six Nations, Alun Wyn Jones singling him out for praise for the demolition job he did on the Welsh breakdown.

For James Haskell to be called into the squad ahead of him for his 'power' in the words of Gatland must have really stung.