Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, the fixture between Leicester versus Bath proved to be heavily influenced by an emotional tribute during half-time as any rugby on play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained close to 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 Emotional Reception at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors 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 conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over to score either side of half-time.
The Tense Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at 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 to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
