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Amidst one of rugby union's most storied rivalries, the match involving the Tigers and the visitors was heavily influenced by an emotion during half-time than the rugby during play.

Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Tigers former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side were more or less close to 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, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.

A Truly Passionate Reception at Welford Road

The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Climax

Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who climb a little higher in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality of the opponent.

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, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, 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 scored the tries, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.

The Nail-Biting Finish

Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.

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