Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's most storied contests, the fixture involving the Tigers versus Bath proved to be as much about an emotion at the interval as any on-field action during play.
Martin Johnson led a contingent of Leicester former players in honour of Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
When Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less still at their very best, while Bath were situated in the middle of a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome on Home Turf
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.
A Dramatic Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before 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 back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were sublime when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
The Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, 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 down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.
