Amidst one of English rugby's most storied contests, the match involving Leicester and the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotional tribute at the interval as any rugby during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester 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 a Leicester jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained still at their very best, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who climb a little higher in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree they face.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. In fact, 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 inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
