🔗 Share this article

Amidst one of English rugby's greatest contests, the fixture involving the Tigers and Bath was as much about an emotional tribute at half-time than any rugby on play.

The legendary Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Tigers former players in honour of Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to 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 lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.

A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf

Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them 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 during the break that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, Bath were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.

A Dramatic Climax

Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.

It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher 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 when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against Bath put Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, 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 Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.

A Tense Finish

Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained 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 arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, 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 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.