Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, the match involving Leicester and the visitors was as much about an emotional tribute at the interval than any rugby during play.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a contingent comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less still at the peak of their powers, while Bath found themselves 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.
An Emotional Reception at Welford Road
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, 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 from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
Bath were a different class 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 deluge of penalties against the away side put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
That earned Tigers 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 breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie 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.
