Amidst a classic English rugby's most storied contests, this fixture involving the Tigers versus the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotion during the interval as any on-field action during the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, 15 years ago, prior to joining their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less close to the peak of their powers, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Emotional Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Climax
Billy Searle, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, 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.
It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who climb a little higher in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards 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 tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
The Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up 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.
