Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's most storied rivalries, the match involving the Tigers versus Bath was heavily influenced by the emotion during half-time than any on-field action on play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Tigers former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt here, 15 years ago, prior to joining Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less close to the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents were situated enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
An Emotional Reception at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.
A Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
