Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied contests, the fixture between the Tigers and the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by an emotional tribute during half-time as any on-field action during the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Tigers former players in honour of Lewis Moody, after he revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, while Bath found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that in over two decades.
An Emotional Reception on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time 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, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, Leicester won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
A Dramatic Climax
Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty 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, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties against Bath kept Bath on the back foot, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
The Nail-Biting Finish
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, which they held for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick 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 down the left. After earning 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.
