Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest contests, this match between Leicester and Bath proved to be heavily influenced by the emotional tribute during half-time than the rugby during play.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Leicester former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester remained close to the peak of their powers, while Bath found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Reception on Home Turf
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
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, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against Bath kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held 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 in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
