Amidst one of English rugby's most storied rivalries, the match between Leicester and the visitors was as much about the emotion at the interval as any rugby during play.
Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with MND.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less close to the peak of their powers, while their opponents found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
The visitors were a different class when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, 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 Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. 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, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning 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.
