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Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, the fixture involving the Tigers versus Bath was as much about the emotion at the interval as the on-field action on the pitch.

The legendary Martin Johnson headed a contingent comprising Tigers old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side were more or less close to the peak of their powers, while their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.

A Truly Emotional Reception at Welford Road

Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.

In retrospect, the visiting side did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

A Dramatic Climax

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, an infringement for which he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.

Contrasting Game Plans

Bath were a different class when in possession. 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 kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.

A Tense Conclusion

Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty in 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 inside the final ten minutes.

This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.