Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest rivalries, this match between Leicester and the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval than any rugby on the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Tigers old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side remained still at their very best, while Bath found themselves enduring a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Emotional Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up 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 regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an 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, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were sublime when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
A Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
