Amidst a classic English rugby's most storied rivalries, the fixture involving Leicester versus the visitors was as much about the emotion at the interval as any on-field action on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a contingent comprising Tigers old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to 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, while Bath found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
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. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score either side of half-time.
The Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester 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 score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
