The day my Lions dream finally ended

Jonathan Davies says South Africa is no place to be without an experienced kicker

Where were you when you heard you'd been left behind by the Lions? I was in Leeds with the family visiting my sister Caroline and brother-in-law Phil Davies who is involved in the Courage League Division Three promotion race as player-coach of Leeds RFC.

The news came as a very deep disappointment because I really wanted to go and all the rumours had seemed to suggest I would. Oddly enough, it all coincided with Iestyn Harris's transfer from Warrington to Leeds Rhinos on Thursday. When there was talk of Iestyn moving to union 18 months ago, Warrington accused me of being his agent. It was nonsense but the fact I was in Leeds when the deal was done would have made them wonder (what's 10 per cent of pounds 350,000?).

Had he joined a union club, Iestyn himself might have been a contender for the Lions. But, although I consider that at 20 years old he is the most exciting young rugby talent around, I'm not sure that he would have yet mastered the tactical kicking game that a union stand-off needs. And if I had a worry about the Lions squad it would be in the all-round kicking department where I thought I might have come in handy.

At least, I was considered and that is some consolation. When I was left out of the original 62, I was more annoyed than disappointed. But when Fran Cotton announced that I was a candidate after the Wales-England game I was delighted, particularly when he praised my control and refused to join the general obsession with my age. They may not have picked me but I'm happy my case was stated.

Many others will be dejected for various reasons - Mike Catt, Simon Geoghegan, Colin Charvis, Jonathan Humphreys and Nick Popplewell among them. I feel especially sorry for Paul John, the Pontypridd scrum-half, who in my opinion is the next best to Robert Howley and Austin Healey.

As for outside-half, my main worry is the lack of options in relation to the full-back position. If they decide to use the attacking flair of Tim Stimpson at full-back it means that they can't play Gregor Townsend at stand-off because they wouldn't have an established front-line goalkicker. You can have Neil Jenkins/Townsend, Stimpson/Paul Grayson, Jenkins/Grayson or Stimpson/Jenkins - and that's for mid-week and weekend matches. It is a narrow range of permutations before you start picking up injury and form problems on what is bound to be a very tough tour. There are other potential kickers in the squad and a kicking coach is going with them but you don't learn overnight to master kicking in front of 70,000 Afrikaners.

You can't argue with the geographical balance of the squad. England have 18 representatives but nobody can deny that they were by far the strongest of the British sides in the Five Nations. But the main source of the squad is the Courage League which provides 26 of the 35 and offers a much higher standard of rugby. The other countries ought to take note. We all have to cut down on the number of clubs in the top division to improve the quality of the game at top-club level.

It is difficult not to notice that 16 of the English contingent come from three clubs. Six come from Leicester, which is understandable considering their performance this season, but Northampton and Newcastle provide five each and they are not in the top flight. Newcastle are obviously an excellent team but they are in the second division which means that the week-to- week rugby they've been playing this season has not been of the highest order and the step up in class is going to be severe, especially if you haven't had the advantage of one or two international outings.

Northampton haven't had a good season after being promoted last year but their players have the advantage of being under the wing of the Lions coach, Ian McGeechan. I've the highest regard for Ian and I wouldn't dream of accusing him of favouritism but if you are constantly under his eye then you have had a better chance to impress and show that you can follow his strategy.

The last time I saw Ian was at the banquet after the Wales-England game at Cardiff. I said: "By the way, Ian, you spell my name D-A-V-I-E-S in case you ever have to write it down." Perhaps he thought I was being too cheeky but, what the hell, you have to let them know how keen you are.