Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's most storied contests, the match involving the Tigers and Bath was as much about the emotion during the interval than the on-field action on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a contingent comprising 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 last pulled on a Leicester jersey here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents found themselves enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, 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 the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
Bath were sublime when in possession. So 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 put Bath under constant pressure, their pack 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 works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
The Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester 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 in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
