Amidst one of English rugby's most storied rivalries, this fixture between Leicester and the visitors was as much about an emotion at half-time than the rugby during the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less close to the peak of their powers, while Bath were situated enduring 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.
An Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, 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, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, Leicester, who climb a little higher in a congested league, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree 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, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries 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 Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare 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.
That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
