Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest contests, the fixture involving Leicester versus Bath was heavily influenced by the emotion at half-time than the rugby during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Leicester former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained close to the peak of their powers, while their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Emotional Reception on Home Turf
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Climax
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class 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 kept Bath on the back foot, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in 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.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
