In a final twist to his long and distinguished career with the British and Irish Lions, Brian O'Driscoll is now unlikely to pull on the famous red jersey again.
Heartbreaks
The decision means that Lions fans are likely to have seen the last of O'Driscoll in the red shirt - unless there is to be a Shane Williams-esque recall in New Zealand in 2017.
O'Driscoll's Lions career had started off so well with the Leinster man scoring one of the all-time great tries in the first Test victory over Australia in 2001, while he then showed off his class as he had a hand in the opening try in the second Test.
However, from there on in O'Driscoll has suffered a series of heartbreaks.
The wheels came off for the class of 2001 as Australia hit back in emphatic fashion to win the second Test before going on to edge the decider in Sydney.
The Lions were understandably devastated but that had nothing on the agony - both physically and mentally - O'Driscoll would suffer four years later.
Having been named as tour skipper by Sir Clive Woodward, O'Driscoll was brutally taken out in the opening minute of the first Test. O'Driscoll was left with a serious shoulder injury after being on the end of a two-man spear tackle from New Zealand captain Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu.
The All Blacks duo were cleared at the time, however the IRB later condemned the incident after previously unseen footage emerged.
The injury ruled O'Driscoll out of the rest of the tour, but he returned to the fray four years later for the trip to South Africa.
O'Driscoll's partnership with Jamie Roberts was among the highlights of the trip, with the duo working together to great effect. Wales centre Roberts was the brute force, while his Irish counterpart exploited the spaces created.
Despite the best efforts of the duo, the Lions narrowly lost the opening two Tests - with a head injury ruling O'Driscoll out of the third Test victory.
O'Driscoll would be back, though, and he became only the third player in 125 years to be selected for four Lions tours after his inclusion in the current squad.
He would lead the Lions in two of the tour games and was named at outside centre for the first two Tests - with the series left finely poised at 1-1 heading to Sydney.
O'Driscoll, though, has been denied the perfect swansong to his career with the legend set to now watch the decider from the stands.
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