Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied contests, this fixture involving Leicester versus the visitors was heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval as the rugby during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained close to their very best, whereas Bath were situated enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.
An Emotional Reception at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them 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, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Climax
Billy Searle, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, 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 back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.
A Tense Conclusion
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. In fact, their breakthrough 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 with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
