Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's most storied contests, the fixture involving the Tigers and Bath proved to be as much about an emotion during half-time as any rugby on play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Leicester old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester were more or less close to their very best, while Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.
A Truly Passionate Reception on Home Turf
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, 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 of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, 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 sublime 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 deluge 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, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, 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 energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
