Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's greatest contests, the fixture involving the Tigers versus Bath proved to be heavily influenced by the emotion at half-time as the rugby on play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; 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. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
