Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, this match between the Tigers versus Bath was heavily influenced by an emotional tribute at the interval as any rugby during play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with MND.
When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester remained close to their very best, while their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired 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, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, darted blind, before the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, 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 put Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and 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 to score just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
