Amidst a classic rugby union's greatest rivalries, this match between the Tigers and Bath proved to be as much about an emotion at the interval than the rugby during the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester old boys to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side were more or less still at their very best, whereas their opponents were situated enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.
An Emotional Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, darted blind, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties against the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. 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 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. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
