Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest contests, this fixture involving Leicester and Bath proved to be as much about the emotional tribute during the interval as the rugby during the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a contingent of Tigers old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore a Leicester jersey here, 15 years ago, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained still at their very best, while their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought 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 Emotional Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were sublime when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
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, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.
A Tense Finish
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
