The first sign of summer, since arriving into Versailles a week ago, coincided with Martin O’Neill’s press briefing at the Stade Montbauron on Wednesday afternoon.
But not before a final shower fell, as if by clockwork, for the 15 minutes of the squad’s training session that was open to the media.
Not too much could be garnered in that short stint as the squad goes through their early warm-up routines, but the assembled hacks are always willing spectators, attempting to gauge the wellbeing or fitness levels of the Ireland squad.
First up, the head-count; and on Wednesday, the 20 were missing one, no surprise to see Jonathan Walters out of action following Monday’s injury reoccurrence, while the three goalkeepers were away in their own little world over on the far side of the ground - practising their keepy-uppies, as it happened.
Squad segregation was something novel for this particular 15-minute snap-shot as it became evident that those who started Monday’s 1-1 draw with Sweden were kept away from the other 10 – still in recuperation mode, the manager would later disclose.
The two groups’ paths would cross every so often as they traipsed around the training pitch with some friendly banter being exchanged between the chosen ones and the wannabes.
The fifteen minutes ended as the squad were going through a standard routine, stepping over a row of consecutive hurdles. You couldn’t help but notice the difference in effort required for 6ft 4in Shane Duffy and the diminutive Stephen Quinn. Revenge for all those short, snappy, sprinting shuttles perhaps.
A few cups of FAI-supplied Lyons tea later, the manager walked in with quite the sunny disposition, matching those rare, yet welcome, blue skies outside the makeshift media centre.
The Sweden game had pleased the manager – without dwelling on the negatives – and it still showed in his face 36 hours after the battling draw at the Stade de France.
“My daughter was delighted to see me, I'm not so sure my wife was, but nothing changes,” joked O’Neill.
O’Neill’s boys had turned up to a major tournament, given a great account of themselves and, as the manager stated, looked accomplished on the international stage, playing some good football.
The manager has always said that he tries to treat his team like adults, and those men were duly rewarded with a day off on Tuesday, which allowed the players to catch up with friends and family, while also reliving Monday night from a fan’s perspective thanks to the endless stream of photos and videos posted on social media.
Prior to kick-off RTÉ screened a specially commissioned battle-cry from UFC world champion Conor McGregor, which went down well with the players according to Robbie Brady.
"We watched it as soon as it came out. It was great to see and great to watch for us especially being involved in it,” he said.
O’Neill had been asked last week whether he was enjoying the Euro 2016 experience, but he ventured that it was too early to tell.
But now, his cheerful demeanour clearly evident, the manager was back to his old joke-telling ways, outlining the quality time he spent with his wife on Tuesday.
“The players had a little bit of down-time. Some went to see families not too far away. I saw my own family, for about 10 minutes. That's quite sufficient, I must admit – it was quite sufficient for them, anyway.
“My daughter was delighted to see me, I'm not so sure my wife was, but nothing changes,” joked O’Neill.
What a difference a good game of football can make; O’Neill’s face painted a completely different picture in the build-up to the Sweden game.
And when you look back at his starting XI on Monday night, one of his biggest fears must have been that Ireland would not make it to the end of the game with eleven fit players on the pitch.
There must have been some amount of doubt in the manager’s head whether Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy, Wes Hoolahan (above with O'Neill), Jonathan Walters, Ciaran Clark and Jeff Hendrick would all last 90 minutes of white-hot Euro 2016 intensity considering recent injuries and lack of competitive football.
The biggest risk of all, Walters, served his purpose for the opener and the manager would have anticipated a certain amount of collateral damage from the game in which they went all out for the victory.
It is almost certain that Walters will not feature on Saturday against Belgium in Bordeaux, but otherwise, all of the above appeared to have come out of the game unscathed, and now with that bit more match fitness under the belt, as they worked through that recuperation in training.
And even “little Wes” as the manger called him, should certainly have another 70-minute stint in the tank for Saturday’s clash.
O’Neill, it appeared, enjoyed that Sweden performance so much that he hadn’t even begun to comb through the other group game between Italy and Belgium to look for chinks in the armour of Saturday’s opponents.
That was the plan for the afternoon.
