There's always a danger of being too parochial about these things and missing the bigger picture but nevertheless, the prevailing tendency on the day a Lions squad is announced is to divvy up the nationalities. Human nature. In the heel of the hunt, a tally of six Irishmen, especially when set against Wales's 10, is disappointing when viewed collectively, as are a number of individual cases.

At least Donal Lenihan is not in as awkward a position as poor Ken Reid was when Ireland's token selector had to explain an all-time low of two in the 1993 party to New Zealand, and this just after a 17-3 win over England. Even so, among some tricky selectorial explanations, Denis Hickie's absence is arguably paramount.

While one sensed it was coming, it still sticks in the craw. In Lions' test class form last autumn against the Springboks, he supposedly didn't miss out because of one poor performance on his representative comeback, but clearly that Munster versus the Rest of Ireland game did him no favours. "There's no question of him being judged on that one game," said Lenihan in the fall-out of yesterday's Heathrow press conference. "It was a case of four into five and unfortunately Denis was the one left out.

"Luger would have been highly in contention all through the season and it looked as if he wasn't going to make it but he is being given the medical allclear, while Robinson has emerged as an exciting talent. It's very difficult when you sit in on selections and you have a guy in an either/or situation and Denis would have been one of the four or five in one of those positions." Fair enough, but set against the lesser cutting edge, if greater physique of Ben Cohen and Dafydd James? Puh-lease.

Scrummaging clearly did for John Hayes and less so for Peter Clohessy. "We have looked at the scrum as a means of attacking Australia. He has missed three further internationals in the Six Nations and the Munster scrum was under a bit of pressure last Saturday but as you would have gleaned from Graham's comments John was very close to selection. It was very close, very close."

Clohessy also suffered for lack of opportunities against his home union rivals, especially with Darren Morris augmenting Jason Leonard's ability to pack down on both sides. Lenihan's sympathy for the Munster warhorse was palpable after he had been unluckily left out of the '93 party to New Zealand and was obliged to withdraw from the '97 tour with a back injury and conceded it was possibly a year too late for him.

"Of all the guys I feel probably more sorry for him. There's no question he should have been selected in '93; in '97 he was selected and couldn't make it, and now he was as close as close can be. I do feel particularly sorry for him. I rang him to tell him, which wasn't a pleasant job."

There were options galore in the backrow area and Lenihan revealed David Wallace had been closer to selection than Eric Miller. "People may be surprised by Simon Taylor but he is a little bit like Eric Miller four years ago. I think David Wallace's knee injury has cost him. How he survived 80 minutes last Saturday was an incredible achievement. When you look at the quality of people available in that area, an injury like that wasn't a plus factor."

Even allowing for Graham Henry's glowing tribute to Welsh openside Martyn Williams (which is also unlikely to assuage Scottish disappointment over Budge Pountney's exclusion either) with a few more games and another month to prepare, why would Wallace's injury count against him any more than, say, Luger's? Wallace made a far bigger impact this season than Williams, even in Ireland's truncated campaign and he'd have flourished in the top of the ground conditions in Australia.

The Lions manager augmented Henry's earlier comments that Ronan O'Gara's goal-kicking had been a decisive factor in his inclusion ahead of Gregor Townsend, and the talented Scot possibly also suffered for his versatility. And the flip side of the phone calls to the Clohessys, Hickies and Wallaces was the call to the likes of Rob Henderson. "I had to ring him to tell him he wasn't going to Australia and I had to ring him to tell him he wasn't going to the World Cup, so I think he saw me as a bit of a Jonah," said Lenihan. "This was certainly a more pleasant experience than the other ones but again I feel more sorry for the guys who didn't make it."