Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest rivalries, the match involving Leicester and Bath proved to be heavily influenced by the emotional tribute at the interval as any rugby on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Tigers old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less still at their very best, whereas their opponents found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Emotional Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties against Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, 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 lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
