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Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest rivalries, the match between Leicester versus the visitors was as much about an emotion during the interval than the rugby on play.

The legendary Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.

When Moody wore a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained close to their very best, while Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.

A Truly Emotional Welcome on Home Turf

Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as 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, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.

In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

A Dramatic Decisive Moment

The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, darted blind, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.

We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.

Contrasting Game Plans

Bath were sublime 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 deluge of penalties against Bath put Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.

The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.

A Nail-Biting Conclusion

Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.