Amidst a classic rugby union's most storied contests, this fixture between the Tigers versus the visitors was heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval than any on-field action during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers former players in honour of Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester remained still at the peak of their powers, while their opponents were situated in the middle of a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
An Passionate Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
Billy Searle, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, darted blind, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who climb a little higher in a congested league, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were sublime when in possession. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, 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 on the left wing. Having won 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.
