Amidst one of English rugby's greatest contests, the match involving the Tigers versus Bath proved to be as much about the emotion during half-time as any rugby on play.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Leicester former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester were more or less still at their very best, whereas their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties against the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
The Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent 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 for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
