There is nothing more romantic in sport than seeing the underdog triumph.
For us fans, you can’t begrudge the plucky amateur their victory over the giants of the game.
It gives us regular mense the belief that anything is possible and lucky fans present the chance to say: “I was there”.
And for those unfancied heroes, they get a story they can tell over and over in retirement with their grandkids sat around them.
It’s a beautiful thing.
This week, we saw Colchester United knock Tottenham out of the League Cup, Uruguay stun Fiji at the World Cup and Durbell upset Maties in the Western Province Club Rugby Super League A final.
Colchester’s win in England was incredible. Here was a club in the fourth tier of the league system beating a team that were runners-up in the last Champions League final.
The most famous player the club has produced is Mark Kinsella. He was a teammate of Bafana Bafana stars Mark Fish and Shaun Bartlett at Charlton Athletic in the wayback when.
Their best ever finish was a midtable finish in the Championship 13 years ago before going down the following year.
And they have been used as stepping stones by coaches like former Scotland and Southampton boss George Burley, current England U21 mentor Aidy Boothroyd and journeyman coach Paul Lambert.
Not much in the way of pedigree there. Except for the fact, that people claim that the nursery rhymes Humpty Dumpty and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star originate there.
LOVE OF THE GAME: Uruguay enjoy World Cup upset of Fiji. Picture: Mark Cristino/EPA.
On to Uruguay and their 30-27 World Cup upset of Fiji.
The South Americans should never have been in the game, but somehow they took the lead and held on for dear life to upset a nation with real rugby pedigree.
Ok, Fiji aren’t ever spoken about as a powerhouse in the world, with very few resources.
But they are the top nation when it comes to Sevens. Also, the islanders have such amazing talent, that Fiji are one of the leading exporters of players at this world.
They have expats or children of emigrants representing New Zealand and Australia to name World Cup contenders.
Uruguay have none of that. While the Fijians can rightly lament the lack of resources for a rugby-mad nation, the Lapwings are a team of amateurs.
These manne would get pak in the Currie Cup second division, but they raised their game against a complacent Fiji side and caused the biggest World Cup upset since Japan beat the Springboks in Brighton four years ago.
WP CLUB CHAMPIONS: Durbell stunned Maties. Picture: Facebook.
Finally, at Newlands on Heritage Day, Durbell had too much in their jocks for Maties.
Now for anyone who follows local club rugby, the University of Stellenbosch are bobaas.
Champions of the Super League A for three of the last five season, they have been unbeaten in the last league campaign.
They even have a second team that up until this season when they withdrew midway through the campaign, usually end comfortably.
Plus who wouldn’t want to play for Maties? Often the best talent get their studies paid for or subsidised, so to turn them down would be a stupid move.
The setup is basically professional, with the entire campus geared for the team’s success.
They have doctors, sports scientists, physiotherapists, psychologists and equipment at their beck and call.
Anyway, for all of that, the opportunity to play at Newlands was enough to inspire Durbell to beat Maties.
So yes it’s beautiful when the little guys win. It’s one of the best things about sport, that us humans can upset the odds and shatter even own our beliefs.
CLOSE CALL: Rochdale made Man United skrik. Picture: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters.
It’s a pity, I couldn’t add Rochdale to this list.
They made a pretty good fist of it to come from behind at Old Trafford and miss out on knocking Manchester United out of the League Cup on penalties.