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Amidst one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, the match between Leicester and Bath proved to be heavily influenced by an emotional tribute during the interval than the rugby during play.

Martin Johnson led a contingent of Tigers old boys to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

When Moody wore a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side were more or less still at their very best, while Bath found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.

A Truly Passionate Welcome at Welford Road

Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be 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, the Tigers managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Climax

The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which 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, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.

Contrasting Game Plans

The visitors 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 forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece 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 tries were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.

A Nail-Biting Conclusion

That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

This merely galvanized 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 where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.