Amidst one of English rugby's greatest contests, this match involving the Tigers and Bath was heavily influenced by an emotion at half-time as any on-field action on play.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Tigers old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained still at their very best, while their opponents were situated enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.
A Truly Passionate Reception at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, Bath were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
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, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, 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, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
