🔗 Share this article

Amidst a classic rugby union's most storied rivalries, the match between Leicester versus Bath proved to be heavily influenced by the emotion at half-time than any on-field action on play.

The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Tigers former players in honour of Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, 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 found themselves in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.

An Passionate Welcome on Home Turf

Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened 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, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Decisive Moment

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.

Contrasting Game Plans

Bath were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.

Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.

A Tense Finish

That earned Tigers the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.

This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.