Rugby Union: Forgotten Lions are lying in wait

Jonathan Davies stands up for the rejected and dejected would- be tourists

British Lions selectors say they are looking for players with a real tough and aggressive attitude to take to South Africa. I know where there are plenty - the players they left out of last week's squad of 62...

They might not have shown it, but I can guarantee that there would have been no more belligerent bunch in the country. I know, because I was one of them.

My hopes of getting selected at 34 years of age might not have been as realistic as some others but it still hurt deeply when my name didn't appear on that initial list. Any player who takes himself and his rugby seriously would have felt the same.

Selections for Lions tours invariably cause controversy but no one really appreciates how it affects the players concerned. Disappointment is hardly the word to describe it. Despair would be a little nearer the mark. And that's when you miss out on the tour itself - when you don't even get into an original 62, you are under serious threat of total demoralisation.

That is why I don't think it was a good idea to announce a large preliminary squad - it amounted to a public rejection of a lot of players who don't deserve that fate.

Players at the top level of any sport have to possess a high level of self-belief and that helps them to brush off criticism and selection upsets.

But the Lions are different. They only exist every four years - they missed one out altogether in my previous time in union - and the chance may not come more than once in a man's career. The pain of failing to achieve that ultimate honour can last a lifetime. I suppose you can console yourself that you were close to selection - but not if you didn't even get halfway.

If naming such a squad was a bad move, the timing was probably even worse. The middle of the Five Nations is not an ideal moment to distract players who have still got mountains to climb for their countries. In this context, you have to feel more sorry for Phil de Glanville than any other excluded player. It amounted to a humiliation for Phil and for the England coach, Jack Rowell, who gave him the captaincy of England this season.

He's not the only one whose absence astounded me. In this space two weeks ago, I named the Lions side I would choose on present form. Two of them, Tony Underwood and Colin Charvis, aren't even in the 62. My judgement may be questionable but I hope it's not that bad. I also feel for Gareth Llewellyn, Jon Sleightholme and others who have been judged too soon.

Fran Cotton, the Lions manager, has been quick to reassure everyone that players not chosen among the 62 can still play their way into the squad. If that's the case, why pick a preliminary squad at all?

In just a few more weeks we will know a lot more about Phil de Glanville and other worthy contenders. So far, Phil has led England to big victories over Scotland and Ireland. I hope my Irish and Scottish friends will forgive me when I say that the hardest tests are still to come - against France at Twickenham on Saturday and against Wales at Cardiff two weeks later.

Whatever you think of Phil as a centre, you cannot make a final decision on his suitability until you see how he answers those questions. I happen to think my good friends Scott Gibbs and Allan Bateman have a huge claim on the Lions centre spots but I would not deny de Glanville's right to a tilt at them. And if he does well against them under the pressures of the National Stadium, it'll be brave men who leave him out of the Lions.

Phil revealed last week that he and Fran are a lot short of being buddies. I hope that doesn't have a bearing on it. I don't know Fran very well but I'm sure he wants to beat the South Africans far more than he wants to upset one of his countrymen.

Fran hasn't shown himself to be a big fan of mine, either. When I rejoined union in November 1995 he was quoted as saying: "It is sad that a great rugby nation like Wales should think a 33-year-old former rugby league player their messiah."

Sixteen months later, my messiah claims seem even less appealing. Yet, I look at the outside-half list and I don't see anyone I would regard my superior on this season's form. Arwel Thomas is the only outside-half who has lasted three games in the Five Nations this season, and he hasn't been picked either.

My advice to him and to Phil and all the others feeling angry and aggrieved this weekend is to join me in saying a quiet "Up Yours" and to do the only thing a proud man can do in the circumstances - go out, show 'em what you've got and defy them not to pick you.