IN the aftermath of last Saturday's stuttering victory over Argentina, Declan Kidney was doing what Declan Kidney does particularly well. No crowing because he'd beaten a country ranked four places above his own, and no wringing of hands because the team had performed with so little verve. "We're a small country, we could achieve great things," he said, "[but] we shouldn't get too high when we win and go too far down when we lose."

The problem, or make that the challenge, for the new coach is that the IRFU doesn't quite see things the same way. It's fair to say that the Union with its large wage bill and its new stadium coming on line is more into the achievement of "great things" than the small country syndrome. In its recently published four-year strategic plan, the IRFU is not coy about a twin goal of winning the Six Nations Championship and reaching the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup.

You might think that with the squad's hard core of experience, as well as a fresh, innovative coaching ticket, a Six Nations title is there for the taking. But the title is invariably hard-won – just ask Eddie O'Sullivan. In fact, for all the talk of a current golden generation of players, the last time Ireland won the championship in 1985, Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald, Stephen Ferris and Keith Earls weren't even born.

As for the 2011 objective, the IRFU clearly has its shop-window team marked down as among the four best international sides in the world.

Kidney doesn't need to be reminded that his team was emphatically out-played, out-muscled and out-thought by New Zealand, and that the win last Saturday has to be put in the context of the Pumas being without the proven quality of Juan Martin Hernandez, Felipe Contepomi and Ignacio Corleto. In fact, of the Argentine back division which contributed to Ireland's downfall at the World Cup, only Horacio Agulla played at Croke Park.

Given that Tommy Bowe and Girvan Dempsey lost ground, there is a decision to be made over the back three where the best compromise appears to be Geordan Murphy at full-back with Kearney and Earls on the wings. The back row is less problematic, but there will be another question of personnel and balance once Denis Leamy returns to full fitness.

If the bigger picture of physical failure against New Zealand and creative failure against Argentina obviously needs to be addressed, there is also every likelihood that the issue of the captaincy will occupy quite a few of Kidney's waking hours between now and the start of February. It was surely no coincidence that once Brian O'Driscoll relinquished the Leinster captain's job, he immediately showed glimpses of the form that at one time had made him the best centre in the world.

Until he damaged his knee against Wasps in the Heineken Cup last month, he had looked fitter and sharper than at any time in the past year. The key aspect to Leo Cullen taking over at Leinster was that O'Driscoll bought into the decision. In contrast, he wants to remain as captain of Ireland, just as he wants another shot at leading the Lions following the disappointment of the 2005 tour.

Therefore, if Kidney had felt it necessary to make a clean break from the O'Sullivan era, there was no way that a change could have been spun any other way than O'Driscoll being stripped of the captaincy.

In the lead-up to an autumn series which was always going generate more pressure than usual due to the possibility of Ireland falling out of the top eight in the world rankings, the story of O'Driscoll's demotion would have cast much too long a shadow for the coach to have continued quietly about his business. Equally, the appointment of Paul O'Connell would certainly have been perceived as a reinforcement of Munster's hand at the Ireland tiller.

If there was a logic to persisting with O'Driscoll and to maintaining the status quo, the feeling now is that a long-term decision on the captaincy hasn't been made. More probably, the decision was parked. While O'Driscoll would certainly regard questions over his leadership as a personal affront – after all, Eddie O'Sullivan and Clive Woodward backed him, and he's done the job more than 50 times for his country – meaningful success with both Ireland and Leinster has eluded him.

Three Triple Crowns and a Celtic League title are not exactly the stuff of great captaincy. Go back to the goals of that IRFU four-year strategic plan for a moment and, significantly, you won't find any mention of the Triple Crown at all.

As one of Ireland's greatest-ever players, he obviously has the respect of his teammates, but throughout his career, O'Driscoll has invariably come across as someone who leads more by example than anything else. A truly magnificent centre when fully fit, he has never been cut from the same captaincy cloth as the likes of Martin Johnson, Fabien Pelous, John Smit and Richie McCaw.

Inspired by Munster's performance against the All Blacks, Ronan O'Gara's demand for renewed pride in the Irish jersey was more about self-motivation and much less a reminder to the squad's Leinster contingent. However, the out-half's solo run – pity he couldn't manage one or two on the pitch as well – marked a shift in the order of things. He would have kept his thoughts to himself during O'Sullivan's time in charge, but he is more sure of himself with Kidney.

Not that most of the players were deflected, or inspired, by the call to arms. "I didn't pay too much attention to it," was Rob Kearney's take. However, one or two of the senior pros including O'Driscoll would have been very aware of O'Gara's timing. Because of the way it places a premium on tactical decisions, captaincy in rugby is infinitely more relevant than captaincy in Gaelic games or soccer, and one key component of a successful team is the relationship between the coach and the captain.

If there is to be a leadership change, Kidney has O'Connell as a ready-made replacement, and he also has O'Gara as his mouthpiece behind the scrum. The new coach needs O'Driscoll to rediscover the form that made him such an attacking threat, but he doesn't necessarily need him as a captain.

Declan Kidney has a reputation as someone who has never shied away from tough decisions. The Ireland captaincy could be the toughest he'll ever have to make.

mjones@tribune.ie