Amidst a classic rugby union's greatest contests, the fixture involving the Tigers and the visitors proved to be as much about an emotion during half-time than any rugby during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with MND.
When Moody wore a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester remained still at the peak of their powers, while Bath found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
An Emotional Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground will always be the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties against Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
