Amidst one of English rugby's most storied rivalries, the fixture involving the Tigers and Bath proved to be as much about the emotion at the interval than the rugby during play.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester old boys to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained close to the peak of their powers, while their opponents were situated enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.
An Passionate Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, Leicester won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to steal the win.
It felt like being back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault 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 against the away side kept 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 tries were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
