Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied contests, the fixture between the Tigers and the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotion at half-time than any rugby on play.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, 15 years ago, prior to joining their rivals Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester were more or less still at the peak of their powers, whereas 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 have called themselves that in over two decades.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, 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 during the break that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground will always be the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, the visiting side did not stand a chance. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, and the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties against Bath put Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
