Amidst one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, this match between Leicester versus the visitors proved to be as much about an emotion during half-time as the rugby during play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with MND.
The last time Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained still at their very best, while Bath found themselves in the middle of a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax a crucial 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 debut start for the club, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. 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. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.
A Tense Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, 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. After earning 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.
