Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest rivalries, the match involving Leicester versus Bath proved to be as much about an emotion during the interval as any on-field action on play.
Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Leicester old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less close to their very best, while Bath were situated enduring a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.
An Passionate Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. 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, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. 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, 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 succession of penalties against Bath put Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
A Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity 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.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
