Amidst one of English rugby's greatest contests, the match involving Leicester and Bath was heavily influenced by an emotion at the interval as the on-field action during play.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Leicester former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester were more or less 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. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, before the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.
It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
A Tale of Two Game Plans
Bath were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.
The Tense Conclusion
That earned Tigers the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
