Amidst a classic rugby union's most storied rivalries, the fixture between the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be as much about the emotional tribute at half-time than the rugby on the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Tigers former players in honour of Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester were more or less still at the peak of their powers, while Bath found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time 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. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Climax
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop made a high tackle, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
The visitors were sublime when in possession. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, which they held 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 scoring opportunity 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, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. 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.
