Amidst a classic rugby union's most storied rivalries, the match between the Tigers and the visitors proved to be as much about an emotion during the interval as any on-field action during play.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Tigers former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less close to the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.
An Emotional Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side did not stand a chance. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
The Tense 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 won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish 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 gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
