O'Driscoll eager to push Irish closer to elite

Ireland and Argentina share an interest in, among other things, religion, red meat and improving performances on the rugby field. As Brian O'Driscoll, Ireland's stand-in captain, put it yesterday: "We're similar to Argentina, both of us still a touch off the pace of the leading nations." An impromptu Argentinian barbecue after training at Naas rugby club on Thursday satisfied the Pumas' demand for steak, and as for divine intervention, both the fly-halves and respective goal-kickers, Ronan O'Gara and Felipe Contepomi, will be offering a prayer that the rain clouds give the much-criticised Lansdowne Road pitch a miss for a change. Whoever prevails may regard themselves as one step closer to joining the élite.

This match will draw a line under the first year in charge for Ireland's coach, Eddie O'Sullivan.

O'Sullivan has noted that his regular captain and talismanic hooker, Keith Wood, had featured in only four of the 13 matches played. "We certainly miss Keith," O'Sullivan said. "He's more than just a player around the camp. But it's been a test for Brian O'Driscoll who would not otherwise have been captain, and that's the positive thing to have come out of it."

Wood, who has been suffering from a neck injury, is unlikely to play again before late December, possibly January. Clearly, the 60 minute run-out he had for his club Harlequins against Saracens earlier this month was an hour not well spent. "There have been alarm bells about Keith," added O'Sullivan, "but he has delayed his comeback because he's not ready. He's lost a bit of weight, and this is not the game to go into if you're a few kilos short of your fighting weight." Too true: a set of dodgy discs would be all the dodgier after an encounter with the Pumas' front row, although their own long-serving hooker Federico Mendez is also absent with the leg injury he sustained in the defeat by Australia in Buenos Aires three weeks ago.

Argentina were in better form last week in Italy, winning 36-6, and brought the good vibes with them to Dublin on Sunday, even if most of their baggage arrived a couple of days later after Alitalia made a right old Bolognese of the job.

"Everyone knows about Argentina's half-backs," said O'Driscoll, "but we also saw against Italy their outside backs' ability to counter-attack, from loose or turnover ball." O'Sullivan echoed the note of caution: "They've given some of the best packs in the world a drilling. But if you focus on the forwards, you'll pay the price out wide."

Hoping to do some wide damage of his own for Ireland will be Justin Bishop, the London Irish wing given the nod over Leicester's Geordan Murphy. Bishop was around in 1999, when an Argentinian line-up containing no fewer than 13 of today's side dumped Ireland out of the World Cup in a quarter-final play-off, and again when the Pumas won a one-off Test in Buenos Aires in the summer of 2000. The ever-present sub-text to this latest encounter is that the two teams are grouped together with Australia in Pool A for Awkward at next year's World Cup. Neither could be confident of defeating the Wallabies on home ground so the match between them in Adelaide on 26 October – the hosts say it is already a sell-out – will be absolutely pivotal to quarter-final qualification.

O'Driscoll, for his part, was typically at ease with the prospect of his third match as temporary captain, following the famous 18-9 win over Australia and last Sunday's stylish 64-point dismissal of Fiji. "It's a lot easier being a winning captain than a losing one," he said. "It's been a bit of a novelty, but I'll be happy to give it back to Keith." With a hundred per cent record? "Yes, God willing."