Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest rivalries, the match between Leicester and the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by an emotion at half-time than any on-field action on play.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester were more or less still at the peak of their powers, while their opponents were situated enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they have called themselves that since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
Looking back, Bath were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, 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 Styles
Bath were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested 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 works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
A Tense Conclusion
That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, 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, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
