Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, this fixture involving the Tigers and the visitors was as much about the emotion during the interval than the on-field action during play.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Tigers old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break 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. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, before the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, 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 at the set piece for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
