Heavy showers are battering Bordeaux, but while the Republic’s fans are sporting shorts, their Belgian rivals are keeping dry in jeans – and making fun of the Irish weather.
The wine capital of the world is the setting for Ireland’s match against Belgium on Saturday and thousands of fans are arriving for the spectacle.
Irish and Belgian fans are mingling in the city’s fan zone, taking shelter from heavy bursts of rain, sidestepping puddles and having their picture taken together.
Adam Deegan, 30, is from Dublin, but he and his friends live in Barcelona.
Asked if he regretted wearing shorts as the heavens opened, he said: “Not at all. 50% chance of rain. It’s warm.
“When you have that much alcohol in your system, you don’t really care about the temperature.”
His pal Gordon Toal, 28, said he has one pair of trousers with him and three pairs of shorts.
“We live in Spain, though,” he explained. “It’s wet but it’s fine.”
Their new Belgian friend Koem Holvoet, 43, joked: “The Irish are in shorts because it’s always raining in Ireland. I have my shorts but my shorts are in the hotel.”
James Cooney, 28, from Dublin, did not pack trousers at all for his French adventure.
He said: “You’re not allowed to leave Ireland on an airplane in anything but shorts regardless of what country you’re going to.”
His friend Mark Davenport, 28, also from Dublin, joked: “I want to show off my lovely tan.”
