Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's most storied rivalries, this match involving the Tigers and the visitors was as much about the emotion at half-time as any on-field action on play.
Martin Johnson headed a contingent of Leicester old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, 15 years ago, prior to joining Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents were situated enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that in over two decades.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team 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, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, darted blind, before the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who climb a little higher in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree they face.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, 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 the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed 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. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
A Tense Finish
That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball 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, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up 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 conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
