Amidst a classic rugby union's most storied rivalries, the match between Leicester and Bath was heavily influenced by the emotion during half-time as the on-field action on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester were more or less close to the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents were situated in the middle of a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
An Emotional Reception on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, Leicester won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.
The Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. 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, 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, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning 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.
