Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied rivalries, the fixture between Leicester and the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by the emotion during half-time as the rugby during the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a contingent of Tigers former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with MND.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester were more or less close to their very best, while their opponents found themselves in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
An Emotional Reception on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, the visiting side did not stand a chance. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
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, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Styles
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over to score either side of half-time.
A Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time 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 with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic 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. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
