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Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's most storied rivalries, the match between Leicester versus Bath proved to be as much about the emotion during the interval as any on-field action during the pitch.

Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Tigers former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey here, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas Bath were situated enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.

An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road

The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.

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

A Dramatic Climax

Billy Searle, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, darted blind, before the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.

It felt like being 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.

A Tale of Two Game Plans

Bath were a different class with ball in hand. 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 the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.

A Nail-Biting Finish

Those scores gave Leicester 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. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.