Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest contests, the fixture between Leicester versus Bath was as much about an emotion at half-time than any rugby on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less close to the peak of their powers, while their opponents were situated in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, 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, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Climax
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach 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 which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. 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 at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick 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. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
