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Amidst one of rugby union's greatest rivalries, the match involving Leicester and the visitors was as much about the emotion during half-time as the rugby on play.

The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody wore a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained still at their very best, while their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.

An Emotional Welcome on Home Turf

The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains his rugby home.

In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

The Decisive Moment

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 made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

We might as well have been 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 a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality of the opponent.

A Tale of Two Game Plans

The visitors were a different class 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 conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.

A Tense Conclusion

That earned Tigers the lead, which they held for most of the second half. 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. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.

That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won 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.