Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's most storied contests, the match involving Leicester versus the visitors proved to be as much about the emotion at the interval as any on-field action during the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson headed a contingent of Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, while their opponents found themselves enduring a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.
An Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, 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 during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
Bath were sublime when in possession. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties against Bath kept Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.
A Tense Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare 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 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 in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
