Amidst one of English rugby's most storied contests, this fixture between Leicester versus the visitors was heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval as any rugby during the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Leicester former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with MND.
When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, while Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.
A Truly Emotional Reception at Welford Road
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.
Looking back, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, darted blind, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty on an 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 a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.
Contrasting Game Plans
Bath were a different class when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against Bath kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
