Amidst one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, this match involving the Tigers versus Bath was as much about an emotion during the interval than any rugby on play.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side remained close to their very best, whereas their opponents found themselves enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
An Emotional Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.
It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, 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.
A Tale of Two Styles
Bath 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 kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards 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 works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try 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 Tense Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
