Amidst a classic rugby union's greatest contests, this fixture involving the Tigers and Bath proved to be heavily influenced by an emotion at half-time as the rugby on play.
Martin Johnson led a contingent of Tigers old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with MND.
When Moody wore a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, prior to joining their rivals Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained close to their very best, while Bath were situated enduring 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, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
A Truly Passionate Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, 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 from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, and the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath kept 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, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
