🔗 Share this article

Amidst a classic rugby union's greatest contests, the match involving Leicester and Bath was heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval as any on-field action on play.

Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Tigers old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

When Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents were situated in the middle of a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. 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 on Home Turf

Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.

In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Climax

Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to steal the win.

It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, 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 Game Plans

The visitors were a different class when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties against the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.

Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.

A Tense Finish

That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.