Lost Lions: The most-capped players never to tour

Some highly decorated international players have failed to make the British and Irish Lions grade down the years. As Andy Farrell prepares to name his tour party on Thursday, May 8th, Neil Squires runs through the most-capped players never to have worn the famous red jersey.

Chris Paterson (Scotland) 109 caps
Scotland’s record points scorer was controversially overlooked by Clive Woodward for the 2005 tour to New Zealand, with no place for him even in a bloated 44-man squad. In 2009, it was Wales’s James Hook who flew out to South Africa rather than Paterson when Leigh Halfpenny was injured. If there was a goalkicker to match Halfpenny anywhere, it would have been Paterson.

Sean Lamont (Scotland) 105 caps
Long-serving Scotland winger who played in three World Cups but was consistently overlooked by the Lions. Particularly unfortunate not to go to New Zealand in 2005, Lamont lost his place in the Scotland side for the 2009 Six Nations at just the wrong time and saw Ugo Monye selected for South Africa after just one season of international rugby instead.

Danny Care (England) 101 caps
One of the most unlucky of all the non-Lions, he was probably next in line as scrum-half for four tours. Care missed out in 2009 when he sustained an ankle injury in the Six Nations, and his replacement, Harry Ellis, was picked to go to South Africa instead. His misfortune continued from there right through to South Africa in 2021 when his Harlequins form pushed for a call-up.

George Ford (England) 99 caps
Part of the England scene for a decade but missed out to Wales stand-off Dan Biggar in 2017, and troubled by an Achilles issue four years later, it was Marcus Smith who was called up as an injury replacement for Finn Russell over him. At 32, Australia this summer represents his last chance of finally earning the call-up his talent and dedication deserve.

Peter Stringer (Ireland) 98 caps
Despite featuring in two World Cups in 2003 and 2007 and being part of three Triple Crown-winning sides in between, the tiny Munster scrum-half never received a Lions call even after Clive Woodward chose to take four scrum-halves to New Zealand in 2005. A slick distributor, he was judged not to carry the same running threat as his rivals.

Dylan Hartley (England) 97 caps
Hartley would have toured to Australia in 2013 but the Northampton hooker was suspended after being sent off in the Premiership final against Leinster for verbally abusing referee Wayne Barnes. Four years later, when Hartley was England captain, his bench back-up Jamie George was picked by head coach Warren Gatland and went on to become a Test starter.

Gareth Llewellyn (Wales) 92 caps
Second row stalwart for Wales who played international rugby under eight different coaches in the 80s, 90s and 2000s but could not land a Lions gig for love or money. In 1993, when Wade Dooley left the tour because of a family bereavement, Martin Johnson was called up instead despite having only one England cap at that point. To be fair, Johnson didn’t turn out to be a bad Lions pick.