Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied contests, the match involving Leicester versus Bath was heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval as the on-field action on play.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Tigers old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less still at their very best, while Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought 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.
A Truly Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, an infringement for which he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being back in the days 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, no matter the pedigree they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
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 were the finishers, either side of Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
A Tense Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at 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 for one last, brutish 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 gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
