Amidst a classic rugby union's greatest contests, this fixture between the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by an emotion during the interval as any rugby on play.
Martin Johnson headed a contingent comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester 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 arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
A Truly Passionate Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, darted blind, and the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.
A Tense Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. 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 at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
