 De Villiers was appointed as coach of South Africa in January 2008
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South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has expressed shock that the captains of England, Scotland and Wales have been left out of the Lions squad.
Lions coach Ian McGeechan chose a 37-man squad but left out Steve Borthwick, Mike Blair and Ryan Jones.
"The one thing that surprised me was that the leaders of three home nations weren't included in the squad," de Villiers told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"The guys that play under those guys respect them."
He added: "Those are the guys that can stand up in meetings and try to resolve small niggles and things that can evolve on a long tour like this.
De Villiers also believes that the decision to appoint Ireland Lock Paul O'Connell as Lions captain ahead of regular Ireland skipper Brian O'Driscoll could be costly.
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"Brian O'Driscoll was the captain of the last Lions team, even though he got injured, and he was the captain of the most successful Six Nations team this year. That's a second big surprise."
Additionally, De Villiers was sceptical of McGeechan's decision to pack his team with physically imposing players who could combat the powerful Boks.
"If McGeechan wants to sit down and try to match the Springboks then I think that is the wrong thing," he said.
"If he wants to say 'this is our strength, this is how we want to play the game, these are the people who can do the job for me' then I can justify any selection he has made.
"But I will not sit down and say 'they are going to do this, so I should do this'. I am more focused on what I want to do and I will find the talent and the players to do the job for us."
The tour officially begins on 30 May with a game against a Highveld XV with the Tests against the Springboks starting on 20 June.
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