Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's greatest contests, this match involving Leicester and Bath was heavily influenced by an emotional tribute during half-time as any on-field action during play.
Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester 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 were more or less close to their very best, whereas Bath were situated enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.
An Passionate Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against Bath kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, 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, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.
