Amidst a classic rugby union's greatest rivalries, this fixture between the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by the emotion at half-time than the rugby on the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester remained close to their very best, while Bath found themselves in the middle of 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 Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, the visiting side did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties against the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries 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, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
A Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty at 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.
That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
