Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's most storied contests, this match involving the Tigers and the visitors was as much about an emotion at half-time as the on-field action during play.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a contingent comprising Tigers former players in honour of Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, 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, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them 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 regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against the away side put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held 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 arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. 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 for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. 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.
