by Sacha Clayton

World Cup winner Danny Grewcock is convinced Lions boss Warren Gatland has made a huge mistake by overlooking Harlequins skipper Chris Robshaw for this summer’s tour to Australia.

Robshaw, who led England to second place in this year’s Six Nations, was the surprise omission from Gatland’s 37-man squad, with the Welsh contingent of Justin Tipuric, Dan Lydiate, Toby Faletau and skipper Sam Warburton dominating the back-row positions.

England boss Stuart Lancaster has also opted to omit Robshaw from this summer’s tour to Argentina, deciding to rest the Harlequin, who missed the last few weeks of the domestic season through injury.

After four rounds of the Six Nations, England led the table and Robshaw seemed certain to not only tour Australia but also skipper the Lions but a hammering at the hands of Wales in the Grand Slam decider at the Millennium stadium changed all of that.

Coupled with Harlequins treble bid derailing as they lost a Heineken Cup quarter-final to Munster and an Aviva Premiership play-off semi-final to Leicester – Robshaw’s touring hopes went up in smoke.

“I think it’s a really tight call leaving out Chris Robshaw – he has been outstanding for England and Harlequins and I think ultimately it’s a mistake,” said Grewcock, who is an SSE ambassador.

“I think Robshaw has done a fantastic job for England in terms of just playing but also as captain as well where there are extra pressures.

“He had some tough times during the autumn internationals but he learnt from his mistakes and led England to a famous victory over New Zealand at Twickenham and also came very close to winning the Six Nations.

“You look at his form at Quins and he was also playing incredibly well and undoubtedly he’s one of the unlucky ones – I think I would have taken him.

“I’m not sure how the reserve list will work but I expect Chris Robshaw will be keeping himself fit and at the first sign of an injury – he will be on the plane to Australia.

Your Local Guardian: Danny Grewcock

Danny Grewcock: "Robshaw has done a fantastic job for England"

“There are some fantastic players in the back-row positions in the Lions squad but how many have played better consistently than Chris Robshaw this season? I would suggest very few indeed.”

Lions’ boss Gatland has been accused of Welsh favouritism in his squad bound for Australia, selecting 15 players from across the Severn Bridge but Grewcock thinks it would be difficult to have it any other way.

Harlequins Danny Care, Mike Brown, Ugo Monye and Joe Marler all joined Robshaw in being overlooked for the Lions but Grewcock dismissed suggestions of a Welsh bias.

“I think when you look at that final game, selecting so many Welsh players probably was fair,” added Grewcock.

“I think there are probably quite a few more Englishmen who could have been selected, who played incredibly well at that last Six Nations but they were outplayed by that Welsh team.

“I think that includes the Quins boys like Danny Care and Robshaw who have been excellent for club and country for the last 12 months.

“I think it’s probably only fair that the best out of the four teams was the Welsh side and they outplayed England.

“It might have been viewed as a bit of an injustice if some players had been selected above some of the Welsh guys who played so well on that day so I don’t think anyone will have too many complaints.”

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