Amidst a classic English rugby's most storied contests, the match involving Leicester and the visitors was heavily influenced by the emotion during the interval as any rugby during the pitch.
Martin Johnson led a contingent of Leicester old boys to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less still at their very best, while Bath found themselves in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.
A Truly Emotional Welcome on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Climax
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to steal the win.
It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed 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 were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
The Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, 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, set up 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. There could be only one result.