Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest contests, this match involving Leicester versus the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotion during the interval than the rugby during play.
Martin Johnson headed a contingent comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
The last time Moody wore the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side were more or less still at the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents were situated in the middle of a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Emotional Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, darted blind, and the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were a different class when in possession. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting 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 won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare 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.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
