Amidst a classic English rugby's most storied rivalries, the match involving the Tigers versus the visitors was as much about an emotion at half-time as any on-field action on play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Tigers old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained close to the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
A Truly Passionate Reception at Welford Road
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team 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 remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby 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 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 moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were a different class when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties against Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
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. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
