Amidst one of rugby union's greatest rivalries, the fixture between the Tigers and the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotional tribute during the interval than any rugby during play.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with MND.
The last time Moody wore the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less still at the peak of their powers, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Emotional Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who climb a little higher in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against Bath put Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, either side of Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
