Amidst one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, this match involving Leicester versus Bath was as much about an emotion during half-time as any rugby during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, 15 years ago, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side remained close to the peak of their powers, whereas Bath were situated enduring a lengthy period 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've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Welcome at Welford Road
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
Bath were a different class when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
