A nice drizzle, a dark sky and a temperature of 7 ° C, early Sunday afternoon, welcomed the vice-world champions in the most beautiful Irish tradition, almost a little too cliché.
But so tasty.
Another local habit awaits the Blues this Monday evening at the Aviva Stadium (8:45 p.m., TF1): a hostile atmosphere and more than 50,000 spectators ready to warm up the spring cold to try to overthrow Kylian Mbappé's band.
It will surely take a little more on the Irish side, because, despite the rejuvenation operated since the World Cup (only Giroud and Griezmann display more than 100 selections), the France group has in its ranks elements accustomed to this kind of context and unimpressed by the popular fervor.
Better still, it excites and galvanizes them.
If Irish rugby has enough to bulge its chest against our XV of France, even a little more after the Grand Slam achieved during the recent Six Nations Tournament, it is not the case with the selection of Stephen Kenny, absent from the two last World Cups and Euro 2021.
"Apart from the incredible atmosphere and an audience that wants to see the star Mbappé, we don't have much to expect from this evening"
, whispered our fatalistic taxi driver on Monday.
Forty-eighth nation in the world and made up of elements with an uncertain level of play, apart from the young nugget Evan Ferguson (18, Brighton), who scored on his international debut on Wednesday against Latvia (3-2), the selection Irish necessarily observed the demonstration of the Blues on Friday against the Netherlands (4-0).
Hence the measured optimism on the side of the men in green.
And the fear of a very present slap.
“You have some great players”
The French team has the opportunity to consolidate its leading position and move like a rocket towards qualification for Euro 2024. Here lies one of the main ambitions of the famous “Mbappé generation”.
This Dublin evening will bring its share of answers.
And will revive some buried memories of 2009 with the famous hand of Thierry Henry.
It is still far too early to see the real level of this selection, even if the potential, in all lines, would make any coach in the football world salivate.
You should have seen Friday evening in the passageways of the Stade de France the envious side of the Batavians facing the pool available to Deschamps.
“You have some great players
,” said Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk, admiringly.
It remains to be seen whether the vice-world champions, carried by a majestic Kylian Mbappé (double, decisive pass, good state of mind) in Saint-Denis and present for a second consecutive time in a pre-match press conference on Sunday at Dublin - sign that he is getting a taste for it -, will not fall into overconfidence, or even smugness, in a meeting that looks like a formality… on paper.
Especially not a trap.
Provided you respect the game and the opponent.
Local traditions oblige.
