Amidst one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, this match involving the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be as much about an emotion during half-time than any on-field action on play.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Tigers old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore the Tigers' jersey here, 15 years ago, prior to joining their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less still at their very best, while Bath found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side did not stand a chance. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were sublime when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
