Stephen Ferris says that it's becoming a case of 'be careful what you wish for' for Irish rugby fans, as the battle for the number 10 jersey rages on.
Competition in sport is usually a good thing, as players go head to head for a position and, in theory, improve each other and the overall lot of the team.
For Ireland, however, Ferris reckons that the regular chopping and changing of the kicker is having the opposite effect, instead putting uncertainty and doubt into their play.
Defeat in Paris has been a common enough thread in the story of the national team. Ireland have managed just three wins at the Saint Denis venue against Les Bleus since it opened ahead of the 1998 soccer World Cup.
The first of those three victories came on the day Brian O'Driscoll announced himself on the world stage with a hat-trick of tries back in 2000, but it marked a first Irish victory on French soil in 28 years.
Even allowing for that, though, the nature of last Thursday's defeat was disappointing, with Sam Prendergast coming in for some criticism afterwards.
Although he has been the favoured number 10 recently ahead of Jack Crowley, starting against Australia and South Africa in the autumn, it has led to more questions as to whether the Leinster man should be the first choice.
"I don't know, give me another five or six weeks," Ferris said on RTÉ Radio 1's Inside Sport, when asked who he would pick.
"I just don't know what the answer is because it's just such a hot topic."
While having two players capable of stepping into such an important position should be an advantage, Ferris points to the 2011 World Cup.
In that tournament, Ronan O'Gara, then coming towards the end of this career, and Johnny Sexton, a player on the up, both received game time in the pool stages in New Zealand.
O'Gara got the nod in the quarter-final against Wales, but Ferris says there are potential lessons there for the Ireland team of today.
"It takes three or four performances week in, week out, you just got to go out and grab it," Ferris replied when asked what Prendergast or Crowley have to do to make the number 10 jersey their own.
Crowley started the games against New Zealand and Japan in the autumn, and some have suggested that he should be drafted in for Saturday's visit of Italy (2.10pm).
"Everybody says it's brilliant to have competition, we're always nipping at each other's heels," said Ferris.
"I would prefer to be known as the top dog, to be honest. Personally, I'd like to be one of the first names on the team sheet.
"Rewind the clock back to the 2011 Rugby World Cup that I was a part of, there was this, 'is it Johnny Sexton or is it Ronan O'Gara that should be playing?'
"They started a couple of games each, and then it came to the quarter-final against Wales, and Deccie (Declan Kidney) went with O'Gara. A lot of people were saying that he wasn't playing as well as Johnny at that time.
"If there was a set in stone 10 that was starting those three or four games in the group stages, and was running the show on and off the pitch, then would you progress? Maybe.
"Ireland just need a little bit more stability there, and the question marks are always going to happen, especially when Sam's still missing tackles at the top level."
Follow a live blog on Ireland v Italy in the Six Nations on Saturday from 2.10pm on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
