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Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's most storied contests, this fixture between Leicester versus Bath was as much about the emotion during half-time as any rugby on the pitch.

Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Tigers old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody wore the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester were more or less still at their very best, while their opponents were situated enduring a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they have called themselves that in over two decades.

An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road

Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.

In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Decisive Moment

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

We might as well have been back in the days of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality of the opponent.

A Tale of Two Styles

Bath were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.

A Tense Finish

That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.

This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.