Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, the match between Leicester and the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by the emotion during the interval as the rugby on play.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a contingent of Leicester old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained close to their very best, while Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
A Truly Passionate Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, before the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to steal the win.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
A Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, which they held for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
