Billy Searle's Final-Second Kick Secures Emotional Tigers Victory Over Bath

Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's greatest rivalries, this match involving Leicester versus the visitors was heavily influenced by the emotion during the interval than any rugby on play.

The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester former players in honour of Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' shirt here, a decade and a half past, before moving to Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester were more or less still at the peak of their powers, whereas Bath were situated in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they have called themselves that since the 1990s.

A Truly Passionate Welcome at Welford Road

Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground remains the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

A Dramatic Climax

Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, for which offence he saw yellow. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.

It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.

A Tale of Two Styles

The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.

Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, either side of Cracknell's score for Tigers. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.

A Tense Finish

That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.

This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning 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.