Amidst one of English rugby's greatest contests, the match between Leicester and Bath was as much about the emotion at half-time than any rugby during play.
Martin Johnson led a contingent of Tigers old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester were more or less close to the peak of their powers, whereas Bath found themselves in the middle of a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Passionate Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.
It felt like being back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic 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.
