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Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied contests, the fixture involving the Tigers and the visitors was as much about the emotion during the interval than any rugby during the pitch.

Martin Johnson headed a contingent comprising Leicester former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with MND.

The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained close to the peak of their powers, while their opponents found themselves in the middle of a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that in over two decades.

An Emotional Reception 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 further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, this famous ground remains his rugby home.

Looking back, Bath were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

The Climax

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality they face.

A Tale of Two Game Plans

The visitors were a different class when in possession. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against Bath kept Bath on the back foot, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.

Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.

The Tense Finish

Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty in 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 for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.