We live for today, we don't think of tomorrow.

Realistically we should fashion our requirement for a quarter-final clash with New Zealand in Cardiff because we are not going to beat France in Paris. We will, however, take Argentina again, but not without difficulty.

Take into account that Ireland will lose one senior player prior to the commencement of the tournament and in all probability will lose at least another two by the time the pool stages are over. How confident are you that we can paper over the cracks against the best side in the world?

Ireland's squad to travel to Argentina at the end of the month was reassuringly and refreshingly strong in terms of replacement depth. Eddie O'Sullivan is a results-driven individual. You might think that our current high standing in the IRB world rankings would be superfluous, but two losses in the early summer would dilute our position. It would be churlish to think that O'Sullivan would accept defeats for encouraging performances. There is an narcissistic quotient in O'Sullivan's makeup. Like everyone else, he likes to wake up in the morning, flick open the papers and see Ireland ranked fifth in the world . . . second at one stage, and nipping at the heels of the SANZA nations as well as the French. The selection for Argentina matters, but as it was announced by e-mail we could never ascertain the level of candour displayed by the coach. We will never know whether his river card was played deadpan.

Three e-mails arrived last Monday. One announced the Churchill squad, one revealed the Argentine tourists and one addendum, seven minutes later . . . ahem . . . announced that Simon Best would captain the side. Most readers of this column know at this stage that I think Best is as useful as a chocolate teapot.

But his selection was interesting for a couple of reasons. One of the things it highlighted was a shocking lack of stripes in the squad. There is only one player who has leadership capabilities in the side and that is Shane Jennings.

He did not get the nod which does not bode well for his World Cup chances.

Effectively, the captaincy of this squad means that you will be given the responsibility of leading the side out against Georgia or Namibia, or maybe even both. I'm not sure how good a captain Simon Best is but I look at Ulster and see disarray at the moment. The white knights have fallen off badly in the run in to the Magners League. There's dissent and disharmony between coaching staff and players, particularly in the pack. So it's difficult to think that Best would not be caught up in the whole thing. That's not a good launching pad for the Argentine experience.

We'll get back to Best in a minute. The person who could have and should have captained on this tour is David Humphreys. Let me tell you why. There are five irreplaceable players in Ireland's squad . . . O'Driscoll, O'Connell, D'Arcy, Hayes and O'Gara. You saw what happened when O'Driscoll and O'Connell were not around, but in effect it is harder to replace Hayes and O'Gara than the other three. You might disagree and you would be within your rights to do so.

I'll tell you now that I think O'Sullivan and Humphreys have already done a deal for the World Cup in France. When opposing teams video-analyse Ireland, they always focus on one player: O'Gara. The French, the Scots and the Italians had a serious go at him this year.

The French and the Scots succeeded and we know what happened on the scoreboard. If O'Gara is taken out or injured, Ireland are f***ed. O'Sullivan, I think, had to negotiate this selection delicately. Paddy Wallace and Jeremy Staunton have been selected but these selections kind of remind me of murder inquiries. "We'd like these people to come forward so we can rule them out of our investigation."

Wallace's form has mirrored that of Ulster.

The graph has gone further south the longer the season has gone on. Staunton too is third choice behind Alex King and David Cipriani at Wasps. The chances of either producing a display in Santa Fe or Buenos Aires which will claim the shadow pivot's jersey is not convincing. I think both of them will do O'Sullivan a favour and rule themselves out of the World Cup squad. Humphreys, at 35 years of age, has taken a one-year extension with Ulster. I think it's obvious why. Humphreys is the obvious choice to guide Ireland against Namibia and Georgia and sit back and cover O'Gara in the big games. You might think it's a slight on his reputation or ego, but it would be a vital role to play. One which a player as mature as Humphreys would understand and respect.

Some of Humphreys' characteristics lend themselves to the Argentine situation. Firstly, a captain has to merit his place and, secondly, the squad have to respect him. Ireland needs real quality at half-back to guide them through a really tough two-test trial. Eoin Reddan will provide 50 per cent, Humphreys should have provided the rest.

Maybe the deal excluded being brought to compensate for time away in France, young family etc. I just suspect that O'Sullivan has no confidence in the guys he has brought. It's hard to bark commands and inspire your comrades when you might be in trouble yourself. Simon Best will still find the 10th-ranked Argentine loose head more than a handful. I suspect an orange flashing light and a beeper will be in operation at scrum-time.

John Hayes is the other irreplaceable player in Fast Eddie's squad. It is significant that nearly every prop in the Six Nations championship was rotated or benched before the game ended. Everyone, that is, except John Hayes. Ireland's tight-head, yet again, stood up to the scrummaging tasks which challenged him. The French match was the only difficulty he had. He is not retained just for his scrummaging ability. Ireland's line-out will collapse if Hayes is not on the pitch. It has become so depressingly obvious where the ball is going to at line-out time, just follow Hayes and the ball will surely follow. Ireland will struggle at line-out time also in Argentina. Ireland's lifters, Bryan Young and Simon Best, are struggling to break the six-foot mark.

Nor do they possess the sheer hydraulic capabilities to literally throw jumpers into the air. You'd wonder whether O'Sullivan would take a chance on Tony Buckley who at 6'5" and 21 stone is clearly being groomed as Hayes' replacement. I'd love to see him get some game time and lose a few pounds as well.

O'Sullivan has the luxury of being able to experiment in Santa Fe where both sides will be missing players. But being a creature of habit, I suspect he will pick what he sees as his best XV, which will be a difficult job.

The thing he can be sure of is the fact that even though it's the end of a long, hard season, the prospect of a World Cup place should propel the players into overdrive. Argentina will be quite a tea party.