Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's most storied rivalries, this match involving the Tigers and the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotion during the interval as any rugby during the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Tigers old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side were more or less still at the peak of their powers, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a lengthy period without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Reception on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
Billy Searle, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, darted blind, 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.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, 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 of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
A Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, 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, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
