🔗 Share this article

Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's greatest contests, this fixture between the Tigers versus Bath was heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval than any rugby on play.

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

When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester were more or less close to their very best, while Bath were situated enduring a lengthy period without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.

A Truly Emotional Reception at Welford Road

The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground will always be his rugby home.

Looking back, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Climax

Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.

We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, 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 they face.

A Tale of Two Game Plans

The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties against Bath put Bath on the back foot, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.

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, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.

A Nail-Biting Conclusion

That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.

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 earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.