Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest contests, the fixture between Leicester and the visitors was heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval than the rugby on play.
Martin Johnson headed a contingent of Leicester old boys to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents found themselves 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.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, 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 Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
