Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's most storied contests, this fixture between Leicester and the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotion during the interval than the on-field action during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester old boys to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained still at their very best, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. 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 on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, 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, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
Contrasting 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 succession of penalties against the away side put Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning 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.
