Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest contests, the fixture between the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by an emotion during half-time as the on-field action during the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a contingent of Leicester former players in honour of Lewis Moody, after he revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt here, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons 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. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders 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.
Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, 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, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, before 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 steal the win.
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, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
The Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
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 where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
