Amidst one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, the fixture involving the Tigers and the visitors was as much about the emotional tribute at the interval as the rugby during the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a contingent of Leicester former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with MND.
When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less close to their very best, while their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit 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 a congested league, can take great encouragement 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. 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 pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, 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 Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
A Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, which they held for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
