Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest contests, the match involving the Tigers and the visitors was as much about an emotion during the interval than the on-field action on the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, 15 years ago, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less close to the peak of their powers, whereas Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Reception at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side did not stand a chance. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, 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 on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, 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 with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
