Amidst one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, the fixture involving the Tigers versus the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotion at half-time as the rugby on the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side were more or less still at the peak of their powers, whereas Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.
A Truly Emotional Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath on the back foot, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
A Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, 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 to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
