Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, this fixture involving the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by the emotional tribute during half-time as the rugby on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Tigers old boys to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side were more or less close to their very best, while Bath found themselves enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. 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.
An Emotional Reception on Home Turf
The Tigers, 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, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, 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 they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
Bath were a different class 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 conceded by the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. In fact, their scoring opportunity 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 with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
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 where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
