“Mystifying” - The best players cut from every Warren Gatland Lions squad

The flanker was controversially was left out of the 37-man squad in 2013, which was led by Wales forward Sam Warburton.

"He was upset and quite rightly so, he's been exceptional for England," Graham Rowntree told BBC Radio 5 live.

"There's going to be injuries and Chris will be one of the first names we turn to. He's desperately unlucky."

Lions head coach Warren Gatland previously stated that Robshaw was unfortunate to be excluded, but pointed to the strength in depth of his back-row division. Robshaw was once again unlucky to miss out in 2017.

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."

Lions boss Warren gatland 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.

Gatland’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."

Despite their relegation, their international players' lack of form and the sparsity of recent matches, Saracens are the best-represented club in the 2021 Lions squad.

However, one Saracen who was overlooked was the younger Vunipola.

A poor Six Nations didn't help his cause, with Exeter's Sam Simmonds' fine club form getting him the nod - even if England still persevere with Vunipola.

It always seemed as though the final fly-half spot was going to come down to either Finn Russell or Sexton.

As it turned out, it was the Scottish playmaker who got the nod.

Gregor Townsend's connection with Russell and doubts over Sexton's fitness hardly make this a surprise, but the two-time Lions tourist would likely still have backed himself to earn himself a spot.