🔗 Share this article

Amidst a classic rugby union's most storied contests, this match involving the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be as much about the emotion during half-time than any rugby on play.

The legendary Martin Johnson led a contingent of Tigers former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester remained close to their very best, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.

A Truly Emotional Reception on Home Turf

The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, 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 regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Climax

The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, before the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, 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, no matter the pedigree they face.

Contrasting Game Plans

Bath were a different class with ball in hand. 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 the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece 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, either side of Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.

A Tense Finish

Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.