Amidst a classic rugby union's greatest contests, the match involving Leicester versus Bath proved to be as much about an emotional tribute during the interval than the rugby during play.
Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers old boys to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.
When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents were situated enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
A Truly Passionate Reception on Home Turf
The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who climb a little higher in a congested league, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath on the back foot, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.
Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
A Tense Conclusion
Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.
That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
