Johnny Sexton insists that he doesn't have a personal point to prove to Warren Gatland in Ireland's Six Nations clash with Wales on Saturday.
Wales boss Gatland said on Tuesday that he "probably got it wrong" in snubbing Sexton's hopes of playing on a third Lions tour in 2019 - when Gatland led the Lions to a series defeat in South Africa.
Ireland skipper Sexton yesterday spoke of his disappointment at not getting the call-up.
"Look, what happened two years ago, it’s gone now," said the 37-year-old. "You don’t get it back.
"Did it motivate me? Yeah. It gave me a bit of time to mull things over and go, ‘Do I want to go out like this or do I want to go out in two or three years’ time at the top?’
“It was gutting. I’d saved my Lions’ Test jerseys and we had them framed and I said to (his wife) Laura, ‘I’m not putting them on the wall until the South African tour was over' because I wanted the three tours together.
"But that’s life. Everyone has setbacks across all ways.
"You look at some lads, at someone of the calibre of Garry (Ringrose), he’s 28 and he’s never been on a Lions’ tour - just with pure luck and injuries.
"I’ve been very lucky to go on two but you’ve got to take the motivation sometimes where you can."
However Sexton claims that he is not out to gain vengeance as Gatland prepares for his first Test back in the Wales hot-seat.
“I don’t get to tackle him or I don’t get to do anything to him," he shrugged.
Asked if he would like to, the veteran laughed: “You’re trying to put words into my mouth now!
"So, I’m not playing against him, I’m playing against Wales, it's his team obviously.
"That's gone now. It's something that you never get back which is why it hurts so bad at the time.
"But people make their decisions and at the time, they probably make them for what they think are the right reasons.
"I met him at the Six Nations launch and there was no animosity or anything, I shook hands and said hello.
"I got on really well with him on the two previous tours, which is probably why it hurt so much. But it is what it is. It's over now, it was a long time ago.
"You don’t expect an explanation and I don’t like players when they give out about not getting feedback.
"You’ve got to go and look for feedback when you want, but the Lions is something that is an honour to get picked and I didn’t get the honour, which is what was chosen. It shouldn’t need an explanation, it should just be an honour or not.
“So, no, there were no calls or talks.”
Meanwhile, Sexton has dismissed Gatland's assertion that the Six Nations opener is a 'free hit' for the Welsh against the world's top-ranked side.
"Maybe that's what he's saying but he certainly hasn't picked a team that would suggest it's a free hit because he's picked such an experienced team," the Dubliner stated.
"He has brought back some older guys that would suggest he's targeting this game. If he was looking at a free hit, he'd pick all the young lads, give it a lash and see if they can get through to the World Cup.
"We're definitely not preparing like that. We're preparing for a full-on Test match in the Principality Stadium which is an incredibly tough place to go and win. That's all we've been talking about and preparing for."
Sexton confirmed that he was ready for action after undergoing facial surgery last month - he trained without a mask for the first time yesterday at Ireland's warm weather base in Portugal.
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