Emmet Moloney writes for the 'Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

With the mighty All Blacks gone, Emmet Moloney is determined to be optimistic...

I’ve always been a glass half-full merchant but I was struggling to be positive after watching Ireland’s display last Saturday evening in Croke Park. Losing to the All Blacks is no great shame – we’ve been doing it for 105 years – but the manner of the defeat galls slightly.

Basics are the key to competing. Do those right and you won’t be out of your depth. We were poor on the basics and this isn’t even down to coaching. This is the space between the ears. What separates the good from the great is the ability to do the right thing at the right time. It may be the simple thing, in fact it usually is, but doing it when the gun is to your head distinguishes you from the also-rans.

Nicky English, with time running out in the 1987 Munster final replay against Cork in Killarney, had a choice to make. Clear on goal for a split second, his side were a point down. There was a goal on but he veered away from his pursuers and coolly hand-passed the ball over the bar. It was the right move at the right time. Tipp won in extra time. If they hadn’t he’d be lacerated for sure, but Nicky was classy enough to make the split-second decision. It changed the face of hurling for the next four or five years.

This is what the All Blacks do in almost every game. Was it a coincidence that the hobbling Paul O’Connell was suddenly faced with two flying All Black centres? Bang, a try. To the New Zealanders those are the basics.

We worried last week about Ronan O’Gara. Those concerns were well placed. He was run over. He was handed off and he suffered. His first attempted clearance was blocked down. His kicking was the poorest we have ever seen. He gained no distance when kicking to touch and his kicking down the field was similarly way off. These are the basics.

In the modern game, aimless kicking is vital. Of course it can’t be aimless, it just looks aimless, but distance is now a pre-requisite. As a team can no longer carry the ball back into their 22, kicks have to be long and somewhat diagonal and usually kept in play. They also have to be aimed away from the danger men. It helps if the kicker has a big boot on him. O’Gara is not the biggest hitter in the world, but he can be very effective. Now Rob Kearney does have a big boot. A Tiger Woods left foot. He wasn’t called upon on Saturday to use that boot and we suffered. He wasn’t called upon to kick penalties to touch on the occasions that it suited a leftie. There was an extra 30 or 40 yards on offer here and we ignored a strength.

Much is made of our over reliance on Ronan O’Gara. We have no depth of quality at out-half and no obvious candidate to take over from him. But we do have a few other decent footballers on the field. We should have used Kearney more.

Despite all this, the game wasn’t a complete loss. Luke Fitzgerald showed he can live in that company. There will be no rotation with this fella. He’s there for the duration. Brian O’Driscoll showed sparks of his old self and David Wallace was our man of the match. But these are mere crumbs. It’s 18 months since we played well at home (against England) and the clock is ticking.

Kidney will make a difference. We know that but some of us obviously expected too much too quickly. I really felt we had a chance last Saturday but as soon as we tried to take the wind out of the haka the confidence started to drain away. We were the home team. We were the ones bringing fire to the first few minutes. Instead we did a tame warm-up to diffuse the electricity that was surging through the place. We needed that electricity. Instead we started playing with the fuse box. Un-Kidney like.

So the real Deccy has to stand up. He has to pick what he really believes his best 15 are. If there is no-one from Ulster good enough, then so be it. If 12 or 13 are from Munster, so be it. Your best team on the field at all times. These are the basics.

I write this before the team for Argentina is announced. Bullets have to be bitten. No point being half-brave, Deccy. Picking Tomas O’Leary was the right thing to do and it paid off. Leaving Paul O’Connell on the field (a decision I suspect was O’Connell’s) was not a smart thing to do.

Maybe Deccy wants to ease into the job before plunging into headlong revolution. But Earls and Fitzgerald look like the best centre pairing available to us now. And Kearney is the best full-back. The rest should be fighting out the wing spots. If that means Brian O’Driscoll has to be dropped then Deccy has to be brave enough to do it. Maybe he feels he needs a win over Wales, England or France before he does it, but do it he will.

Brian O’Driscoll is a great player. Our best over the last 10 years. But right now he is behind Earls and Fitzgerald. I have no doubt that he will come back and regain some of his world-class form. He is that good. While he played well last Saturday, took responsibility with some kicks and did his usual honest effort in defence, he is not offering enough in attack.

Don’t think for a second I am suggesting any of Saturday’s performance was down to O’Driscoll. Quite the contrary. In losing causes, he always keeps his end up. At the World Cup he was among the few to stand up and be counted. But Deccy cannot pick on reputation alone.

While I’m not too sure this world ranking is that big a deal (we have been in with strong teams for the last two World Cups as a top-eight side, why not try our luck as a number nine seed?), it’s time we beat a serious rugby team.

It was March 2007 that England were whipped in Croke Park. That’s the last time we beat a top-ranked team. It’s far too long. What’s more, we haven’t played with the passion that should automatically come from putting on the green jersey. The glass is still half full, but those bloody Argies have a thirst on them. C’mon Deccy, sort it out.

To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...