Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's most storied rivalries, the fixture involving Leicester and Bath proved to be as much about the emotion during half-time as the rugby on play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side were more or less close to the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
A Truly Emotional Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, 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, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, and the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Tense Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time 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, 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, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
