🔗 Share this article

Amidst one of rugby union's greatest rivalries, the match between the Tigers versus the visitors was as much about an emotion at half-time as the on-field action during play.

The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents were situated enduring a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.

An Emotional Reception on Home Turf

The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains his rugby home.

In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

A Dramatic Decisive Moment

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive 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. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.

It felt like being back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.

A Tale of Two Game Plans

Bath were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties against the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score either side of half-time.

A Nail-Biting Finish

That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.