Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest contests, this fixture between the Tigers and the visitors was as much about an emotional tribute at half-time as the on-field action on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained still at their very best, while Bath were situated enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Emotional Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, before the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, 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 can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty 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 put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
