Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, the fixture involving Leicester and the visitors was as much about the emotional tribute during the interval than any rugby during play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less still at the peak of their powers, while Bath were situated enduring a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Emotional Welcome at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired 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.
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 a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, before the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, no matter the pedigree 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, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way 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 the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning 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.
