Amidst one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, the fixture between Leicester and Bath was as much about the emotion during half-time than any on-field action during play.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Leicester old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, 15 years ago, prior to joining Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less still at their very best, whereas their opponents 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 have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Emotional Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, 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 the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; 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 Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
