Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's greatest rivalries, the fixture involving the Tigers and Bath proved to be heavily influenced by an emotion during half-time as the rugby on play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Tigers former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained close to their very best, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
A Truly Passionate Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick 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 climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, no matter the pedigree they face.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
That earned Tigers the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
