Dion Fanning: Stephen Kenny culture warriors get to fight another day

The result and performance against Les Bleus allows everybody on all sides of this debate to take what they wanted from the game.

THE MAN IN THE ARENA: Ireland manager Stephen Kenny will know his side need to deliver some big results. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

On Sunday afternoon, Kylian Mbappé appeared at France’s pre-match press conference in Dublin. When he was asked about Ireland, he used words we are not accustomed to hearing, but which we are always longing for.

Mbappé ignored the cliches and told us instead that Ireland were an “interesting” side, making us sound like an exciting new-wave Polish film director. Our hearts skipped a beat.