Leicester amazing triumph is an inspiration

John Robbie looks back at Leicester’s amazing story and tries ti figure out how they actually managed to become Premier League champions.

What on earth happened last week? We had been trundling along quite nicely in Super Rugby this season and, at times, the Stormers, Lions and Bulls had looked really competitive. Yes, The Kiwis had been superior but we knew that. However, we had seen signs that things were picking up and, in the past, when South African sides finally got the plot they got it properly. Think 1995. Think 2007.

I quite fancied the Lions' chances against the Hurricanes but they were rightly hammered. Okay, two intercept tries didn’t help but it looked like the moves had been recognised so luck was not part of it. They had laid their plans. There was no lack of effort by the locals but the scary thing was the ease with which the Kiwi side opened our defence, time after time.

The recognition of available space, the shifting of the ball and the finishing of chances looked so easy didn’t it? That was the scary part and begs the question: where is our rugby now? The Sharks have improved on tour, the Bulls are better this year and the Stormers were a bit unlucky to concede that late try to the Waratahs and, to me , the red card looked crazy.

However, as we have mentioned before, the rugby game is terrified that somebody will be killed, so anything that gets close to an accident scenario has to be sanctioned big time. Well done to the locals for, at least publically, taking it on the chin.

Overall, however, it was a dreadful week. For goodness sake, we are South Africa and for most of rugby history we have led or been second in the world. We should exist in a fortress at home and always be competitive wherever and against whom we play. At the moment we are playing catch-up and that is depressing.

To cheer things up lets talk Leicester City. Their win in England represents, possibly, the biggest upset in the history of sport. This is not an exaggeration. It was not a one off, like Buster Douglas against Tyson, or Japan against the Boks, or so many other major upsets. This was a sustained effort over an insanely long and tough football season against other sides that had greater cash, players and pedigrees.

How did they do it? By accident or design they managed to get a team, maybe not even a squad, that had wonderful balance. From one to eleven they had players who fitted in and were prepared to run all day for the jersey. They also were lucky in having two strikers,Vardy and Mahrez, who just hit a purple patch and couldn’t stop scoring. They also had a manager who inherited a bit of momentum from the great escape of last season and he had the sense to try and carry it on. In the early part of the season Leicester were scoring like mad but also conceding. This was tightened and tactically a subtle change was made. Unlike the rest of the League, where dominating possession is the big goal, Leicester were happy to defend and strike on the counter.

Think of those clean sheets. Think of those one-nil wins. They were also lucky that the Big Four all had mediocre seasons and that Spurs didn’t quite have the experience to chase. Yes, they had luck but, boy, did they ride it. No other Premier League Champions had ever finished the previous season outside the top three, let alone escape relegation by a whisper. Their win was marvellous and, surely, an inspiration to the world and not just the world of football.

What happens to them now? Hopefully they can retain most of their squad and they resist the temptation to go looking for a few superstars. Nothing would kill their spirit like the arrival of an egotistical player with a big reputation. An Ibrohimavic type of player would be a temptation and a crowd and sponsor puller but, also, a disaster. The one-for-all spirit would be replaced by all-for-one, or two, or three. Claudio Ranieri and the Board have to buy but have to buy without destroying the soul of the side. Brian Clough managed to get it right all those years ago with Nottingham Forest. Let’s hope Leicester manage it also.

There is nothing like a bit of fantasy to clear the blues and, this year, this set of Blues from the English Midlands gave the world that. In spades, thank you Leicester City.

*Robbie hosts the Breakfast Show on 702, weekdays 6-9am.