Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's most storied rivalries, the fixture between the Tigers and the visitors proved to be as much about the emotion at half-time as the rugby during the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Tigers old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, after he revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody wore a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester were more or less still at their very best, while their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, before 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 snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree they face.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So 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 forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, which they held for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent 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, initiated by the lively Ollie 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.
