Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest contests, this fixture involving the Tigers versus Bath proved to be heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval as the rugby on the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a contingent of Tigers former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.
The last time Moody wore the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained still at their very best, whereas Bath were situated in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.
An Passionate Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.
It felt like being back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were a different class when in possession. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour 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 pack thoroughly outplayed 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. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. 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 Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
