Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's most storied rivalries, the fixture involving the Tigers and Bath was as much about an emotion during half-time as the on-field action during play.
Martin Johnson led a contingent of Tigers old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained still at the peak of their powers, while their opponents found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as 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 will always be the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, the visiting side did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent 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 saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to steal the win.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, 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
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, 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 Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough 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 to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
