Amidst a classic rugby union's most storied rivalries, the fixture between the Tigers versus the visitors proved to be heavily influenced by the emotion at the interval as any on-field action during the pitch.
Martin Johnson headed a contingent of Tigers former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.
The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey here, 15 years ago, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side were more or less still at their very best, whereas their opponents found themselves in the middle of a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Decisive Moment
Billy Searle, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.
We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Contrasting Styles
The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties against Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score either side of half-time.
The Tense Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic 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. There could be only one result.
