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Amidst a classic rugby union's greatest rivalries, this match between Leicester versus the visitors was as much about the emotion at half-time than the on-field action on play.

Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Leicester old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

The last time Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for the last two years of a storied career, Leicester were more or less still at their very best, while Bath found themselves in the middle of a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.

A Truly Emotional Welcome at Welford Road

The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack deep in Bath territory, the Tigers managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Climax

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the impressive James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence 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 of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, no matter the pedigree they face.

Contrasting Game Plans

The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.

The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.

A Nail-Biting 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 won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

That only inspired Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.