Amidst one of English rugby's greatest contests, the fixture involving Leicester and the visitors proved to be as much about the emotion at half-time as the on-field action on the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less still at their very best, while Bath were situated in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Passionate Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, 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 heartfelt admission during the break that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. 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
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult 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 a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
The Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
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, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.