Amidst a classic English rugby's most storied rivalries, the fixture between Leicester and Bath was as much about the emotion at half-time than the on-field action during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt here, 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 still at their very best, whereas their opponents found themselves enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that in over two decades.
An Emotional Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were sublime when in possession. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties against the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
A Tense Finish
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in 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 for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic 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.
