Brian O'Driscoll's Diary: The conditions determined how we played against Argentina. They were the worst I've ever played in - it was actually quite a shock when we came out.

We'd decided to play into the wind in the first half. I won the toss for the first time in my three games as captain and thought: "Oh no, I hope this isn't a bad omen." I spoke to Ronan (O'Gara) about it and he said that he wanted to play into the wind, to get stuck into them and play hard for the first half.

That was fine. I think you have to consult your place-kicker when it comes to that sort of decision. We knew there wouldn't be any glamorous tries, so we were happy with Ronan's decision.

I also spoke to Eddie (O'Sullivan) who said: "I'm okay with it if you're okay with it." So we played into the wind and a 10-7 lead at half-time was exactly what we were after.

In the second half it was all about playing for territory. As it turned out, it was almost more of a liability having the ball, which is unusual. I'm sure any statistician would have a field day recording how many knock-ons there were. In a way it was nearly better to defend. For example, in impact tackles the ball had a tendency to spill. It was so hard to hold on to it. Of course, that worked for both teams.

It was difficult in the first half because we were supposed to hold on to the ball playing into the wind. But against a poaching side like Argentina that was very difficult. In the first half we played reasonably well but in the second we were much smarter.

Looking back at the autumn matches, we can say we played really well in two games and did enough in the third. That's probably looking at it from a back's point of view in that we functioned adequately as a back line on Saturday.

But you've got to take your hat of to the forwards. Come lineout time there was just one wayward throw. Everything else went perfectly for them. The tackle count was phenomenal. I can't over-estimate how unbelievably greasy the ball was and how difficult it was to hold on to it. Those sort of games are won and lost in the tight five.

The back line, barring the half-backs, were redundant in a way. We practised a load of back-line moves during the week but it wasn't a day for them and we got to terms with that.

People have been talking about the wet conditions and comparing them to the World Cup. This is not about the World Cup at the moment. This is about winning games. Granted, the Australian game was great for moral and in the Fiji game we played really well when we were expected to. But on Saturday's performance you can't say how things might work out in the World Cup.

The conditions were thrown in front of us and we dealt with them well and, as much as we value public perceptions about us making in-roads against teams like Australia, it's more important that we ourselves know that we're making progress. We dealt with it well, but we also know that the conditions in Australia are going to a lot different.

I don't want to dwell on the conditions. Simply put, the day was one for putting leather to leather, and nobody more so than me. When I got the ball I got rid of it more often than not.

Argentina are an unbelievably good side when it comes to counter-attacking, but fast guys weren't fast out there and nimble guys weren't nimble because of the surface. I didn't find it an enjoyable game to play in. I don't ever want to play rugby in those conditions. But you have to at times.

The few things our backs had to do, we did reasonably well with the exception of Girvan (Dempsey). He was excellent. When Girvan was up in the air catching bombs, he was phenomenal. I'd put my mortgage on him. He was the outstanding back. He did his job well, did the basics on a day when that was what it was all about.

The team is on a high at the moment after six wins on the trot. We achieved the autumn goal.

I'm not taking away from the teams we played, but a couple of them were sides we expected to beat. We won't get complacent because we know how competitive the Six Nations is.

Now I'm going to enjoy giving the captaincy back to Keith (Wood) because he's proved himself a hell of a lot more than I have, through the good times and bad times. I haven't had bad times yet and that's the test of a captain. He's taken us through tough games into better times.

There is definitely a different element to the team when Keith is around. He drives people on because he only accepts the best. I'm a novice, but I'd like to believe that I think along the same lines.

In an interview with Johnny Watterson