Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, this fixture involving Leicester versus the visitors was as much about an emotional tribute during half-time as the rugby during play.
Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less close to the peak of their powers, while Bath found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
A Truly Passionate Reception at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
