Amidst a classic rugby union's most storied contests, the fixture involving the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be as much about an emotion during the interval than the on-field action on play.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Leicester old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained close to their very best, while their opponents were situated in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Emotional Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class when in possession. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept 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 were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
The Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at 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 for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
