Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's most storied contests, this fixture between the Tigers and the visitors was as much about the emotional tribute at the interval than the rugby on the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a contingent of Tigers former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained still at their very best, while Bath found themselves in the middle of 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
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were a different class when in possession. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, either side of Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
