Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's most storied contests, the match involving the Tigers and the visitors proved to be as much about an emotion during the interval as any rugby on the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Leicester former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, while Bath were situated in the middle of 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.
A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were sublime when in possession. 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 conceded by the away side put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after 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.
A Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
