Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, this fixture between Leicester versus Bath was as much about an emotion at the interval as any rugby on play.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained close to their very best, whereas Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.
It felt like being back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, 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 Tigers. Then, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
