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Amidst one of English rugby's most storied contests, the fixture between the Tigers versus the visitors was as much about an emotion during the interval as the on-field action during play.

Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester remained close to their very best, while their opponents found themselves in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.

An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road

Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.

Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Decisive Moment

Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, 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.

We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who climb a little higher in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault 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 which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.

Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over to score either side of half-time.

The Tense Conclusion

Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty 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 on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.