Fresh challenge: Ronan O'Gara is likely to start for Ireland against Australia, but Jonny Sexton is pushing him hard for the number 10 jersey

EARLY last season, Brian O'Driscoll wasn't playing too well. Short on the searing acceleration that petrified defences for much of the decade, and also strangely short on confidence, the hot topic was whether or not he'd retain the Ireland captaincy that at one stage had seemed like a sinecure.

Amid intense speculation that Paul O'Connell might get the vote, the new coach, Declan Kidney, decided to kick for touch. Sensing that it would be more beneficial for O'Driscoll to get his own house in order without having to think about any bigger picture, Kidney parked the captaincy issue until the November tests. "Sometimes you don't make a decision until you have to," he said.

O'Driscoll's search for form a year ago might well have resonances for Ronan O'Gara at the moment. Certainly, before yesterday's clash with Ulster, there has been hardly any evidence of the cocksure game-management that made him the country's leading out-half by a street.

If national squad training requirements, injuries and John Hayes' suspension have undoubtedly hurt Munster, you might have expected O'Gara to be relishing life back in his personal rugby heartland after the trauma of the Lions' tour.

While a perception still exists that his choice of kick and then his clumsy challenge on Fourie du Preez in the dying seconds at Loftus Versfeld cost the Lions a shot at tying the series, the tests as a whole were hardly a validation of O'Gara as a top-class number 10.

He reckoned he had done enough to merit a start in the first game against the Springboks, but Ian McGeechan put his trust in Stephen Jones throughout and, although a black eye may have been a factor, O'Gara was subsequently dropped from the 22 for the final test.

Although his many achievements would suggest that self-belief is not an issue, perhaps the fall-out from the tour has seeped into his bones. So much so, that Paul Warwick's consistency of late has raised the previously unthinkable question of who might be the best out-half in Munster.

It's also possible that Ireland's historic Grand Slam papered over one or two cracks in O'Gara's game. No better man to accept the burden of dropping the winning goal in Cardiff, but when the firework smoke had cleared and the ticker-tape was swept from the streets, you couldn't help thinking that he hadn't been at his best during the Six Nations.

And later as he struggled for recognition in South Africa, there was the recent memory of Jonny Sexton coming of age in the Heineken Cup final. Not yet as skilled or as crafty as Ireland's incumbent, but physically stronger and with a howitzer boot. In the three seasons since David Humphreys' international retirement, there had been no argument. Now, suddenly, O'Gara had a genuine challenger.

If Kidney's decision regarding who starts at out-half against Australia in a fortnight's time is easier than his choice of captain a year ago, it also happens to be more important. For all the talk of a team being built around strong set-pieces and an aggressive, well-organised defence, and for all the changes ushered in by professionalism, the primacy of the out-half remains immutable.

Maybe England's failure to win the Six Nations title since 2003, and Jonny Wilkinson's litany of injuries is a coincidence, and maybe his temporary availability and England reaching the World Cup final two years ago is another strange case of happenstance. Equally, Scotland and Italy won't be going anywhere in a hurry until they find playmakers of the calibre of O'Gara and Jones.

While O'Gara has not been passing or kicking as well as he can, other factors will dictate when the side is named for the Australia game. A loss of form, as well as a possible loss of a little self-esteem, won't be enough to instigate a radical change right now. Kidney knows better than anyone what his number 10 has done in the past for Munster and Ireland, and will back him to do it again.

Where does that leave Sexton then? Most probably breathing down O'Gara's neck. Having grown used to living in Felipe Contepomi's shadow, this latest tussle for the top job will be nothing new, however, if he is to be Ireland's playmaker at the 2011 World Cup – by which time O'Gara will be 34 – Sexton's going to need to cut his teeth sooner rather than later.

Whether off the bench or with a start against Fiji, a first cap will surely come later this month, and the absence of Ian Humphreys in the current squad is an indication of how Kidney sees his options.

Humphreys has performed impressively in a rejuvenated Ulster side, and he has come a long way since the low point of last season's crushing defeat by Leinster at the RDS, but if you're looking for a clue as to why he's currently a pretty distant third behind O'Gara and Sexton, cast your mind back for a moment to Shaun Berne's try at Ravenhill last Saturday.

Admittedly, better defenders than Humphreys have been transfixed by O'Driscoll like moths by an outside light, but he and a couple of teammates were caught so badly out of position that when O'Driscoll supplied the pass, Berne's grandmother could have scored.

If Humphreys is off the pace at the moment as far as test rugby goes, then so too is Gordon D'Arcy who has made a pretty lack-lustre start to the season. Their partnership is tried and tested, but maybe also a little jaded, and in order to freshen the midfield up, it might now be an opportunity to bring in Tommy Bowe alongside O'Driscoll.

By some margin the most improved Ireland player over the past year, Bowe was outstanding during the Lions tour, and although injuries forced his hand, McGeechan didn't have to think that long and hard before selecting him at 13 for the third test. Given that he's also had plenty of experience of playing in the centre for the Ospreys, Bowe could form a lethal combination with O'Driscoll.

As for Luke Fitzgerald, dropped for the third Lions test possibly because of the defensive cock-up that gifted JP Pietersen a try in Pretoria, he has been razor-sharp to date, and is on the right track to move from international class to world class this season. Fitzgerald should be on one wing with Keith Earls on the other. Earls, like a few Munster players, has only been guilty of trying too hard. He is a major talent and will surely benefit now from an extended run in the team.

With Rob Kearney a shoo-in at full-back, an explosive three-quarter line of Earls, Bowe, O'Driscoll and Fitzgerald would be capable of putting the frighteners on any opposition.

But that ultimate line-up comes down to a balance, whereas the call as to whether O'Gara or Sexton will wear the number 10 jersey heading towards the next World Cup is the most critical of all.

Not so long ago, an injury to O'Gara, and Ireland would've been banjaxed. That, at least, has changed.

November fixtures

Friday, 13 November Ireland A v Tonga XV, Ravenhill, 7.00
Sunday, 15 November Ireland v Australia, Croke Park, 3.00
Saturday, 21 November Ireland v Fiji, RDS, 5.15
Friday, 27 November Ireland A v Argentina Jaguars, Tallaght Stadium
Saturday, 28 November Ireland v South Africa, Croke Park, 2.30

mjones@tribune.ie