Amidst one of English rugby's most storied rivalries, this fixture between the Tigers and the visitors was heavily influenced by the emotion during half-time as the on-field action during play.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Leicester old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester were more or less close to their very best, whereas their opponents were situated in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Passionate Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, darted blind, before the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two 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 succession of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
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 were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held 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 breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
