Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied rivalries, the match between Leicester and the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotion during the interval than the on-field action on the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Leicester former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
A Truly Emotional Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, 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, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.
A Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick 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 down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.