Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's most storied rivalries, the fixture between the Tigers and Bath was as much about the emotion at the interval than the on-field action on the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a contingent of Tigers former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, 15 years ago, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester were more or less close to the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents were situated enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they have called themselves that 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 on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time 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, 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, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
