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Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied contests, the match involving the Tigers and the visitors was as much about the emotion at half-time as any on-field action during the pitch.

The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Leicester former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained close to the peak of their powers, while Bath found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that in over two decades.

A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf

Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them 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 his rugby home.

Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

The Climax

Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.

A Tale of Two Game Plans

Bath were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece throughout the game.

Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. 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 forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.

A Nail-Biting Conclusion

Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.

This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.