Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest rivalries, this fixture involving the Tigers and the visitors was heavily influenced by the emotional tribute at half-time as the rugby during the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained still at their very best, while their opponents were situated in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as 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, Welford Road 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, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were sublime when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period 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 pack comprehensively bested 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, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
A Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity 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 inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
