Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, the match involving Leicester versus Bath was as much about the emotional tribute at half-time as any on-field action on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester old boys to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent 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 landed the penalty on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties against Bath kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Tense Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in 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 inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
