Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's greatest contests, this match between Leicester versus Bath was heavily influenced by an emotion during the interval than any rugby on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a contingent of Leicester old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained still at their very best, whereas their opponents found themselves enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Reception on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were a different class when in possession. So 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 the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
