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Amidst one of English rugby's most storied contests, the match involving the Tigers and the visitors was as much about an emotion during the interval than the rugby on play.

Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained close to their very best, while Bath found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.

An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road

The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains his rugby home.

In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

A Dramatic Climax

The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first 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 landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.

It felt like being back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, 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 which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.

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. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over to score just before and just after the break.

A Tense Conclusion

That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, 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 on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.