Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied contests, this match between the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by the emotional tribute at the interval as the on-field action during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a contingent of Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
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 in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, while their opponents were situated enduring a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders 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 did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Climax
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors 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 against the away side put Bath under constant pressure, 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 studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable 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 inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
