Amidst one of English rugby's greatest contests, the match involving the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by an emotion during half-time as the rugby during play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers former players in honour of Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side remained close to the peak of their powers, whereas Bath found themselves in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.
An Emotional Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Styles
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against the away side put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, 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. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
