British Lions Betting: Wilko should have been in not out

Jonny Wilkinson has shown with Toulon that he's still the master in his position

Sam Warburton will captain the Lions but Jonny Wilkinson and Chris Robshaw will be left at home. Ralph Ellis fears that Warren Gatland has made some key mistakes in today's squad announcement.

The unique thing about a Lions tour is that it happens once every four years. It isn't part of a progression, it doesn't involve team building over time, or planning for the future. You aren't preparing for a World Cup. It is the ultimate sporting occasion when all that matters is here and now.

So when Warren Gatland settled down to finalise the squad he named this morning, the last thing he needed to look at was the age of any of the players. All that mattered was their form and fitness.

Given those parameters, why did he leave out the fly half who had just kicked his club into the European Cup Final?  Why wouldn't you choose the experienced guy who had put any injury worries behind him by playing almost every game of a full season for a club who are competing for their title? In short Jonny Wilkinson should have been on the plane. In fact Sir Clive Woodward's view this morning was that he should not only have been in the squad but the starting Test team. He is the proven performer, and has just reinforced that he is still the best in his position that the Northern Hemisphere has to offer.

Gatland's argument has been that he wanted to put the whole squad on one flight to begin team building at the start of the tour. That's great in theory, but in practice is a nonsense. When you deal with the reality of a Lions trip, there will inevitably be some people called up late because of injuries to others who have to go home early.

Last time, in South Africa, Danny Care flew halfway around the world to join up from his holiday, and then got sent straight home again because of an injury and they found another replacement. What difference would it really have made if Wilkinson came a few days late so he could complete his domestic season with Toulon? And if club duties rule out Wilkinson, why is his Toulon team mate Gethin Jenkins, who is also likely to be kept back in France, included?

Gatland's Lions are just odds on at between 1.855/6 and 1.9520/21 to win the Test series  against the Aussies, but the squad he has picked raises some questions, and not only about Wilko.

Sam Warburton as captain is also a big call. It's only a couple of months ago that he couldn't get into the Welsh team, and was deposed as skipper. He chose to swerve captaincy duties to get his own form back up to scratch, and yet he is now going to lead the Lions. Meanwhile Chris Robshaw, who was in superb form for all but the last game of the Six Nations, is not on the plane at all.

Back in February, Gatland revealed he was worried about the dangers of a Lions tour to Australia degenerating into "an anti-England media circus". Well at least that won't happen now. The big danger, instead, is that we'll have an anti-Wales circus, with the travelling media wondering how as many as 15 players got included in a 37 strong party. It's only a surprise that Gareth Bale hasn't been brought in to help with the kicking.