Amidst a classic rugby union's most storied rivalries, the match involving the Tigers versus Bath was heavily influenced by an emotional tribute during the interval than any rugby on play.
Martin Johnson headed a contingent of Tigers old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with MND.
When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side were more or less still at the peak of their powers, while Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop 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 back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in a congested league, can take great encouragement 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, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against the away side put Bath on the back foot, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
