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Amidst a classic English rugby's greatest contests, the fixture involving Leicester and the visitors was as much about the emotion during half-time as the on-field action on play.

Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Tigers old boys in honour of Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, prior to joining their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, the home side were more or less close to their very best, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.

A Truly Emotional Welcome on Home Turf

The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains his rugby home.

In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty out of the Bath defence.

A Dramatic Climax

Billy Searle, on for the impressive James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, darted blind, and Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.

Contrasting Game Plans

The visitors were a different class when in possession. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties against Bath kept Bath on the back foot, 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 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 powered over for tries just before and just after the break.

The Tense Finish

Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. Finn Russell, 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 put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.