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Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's greatest rivalries, the fixture between Leicester and Bath proved to be as much about an emotional tribute during half-time as any rugby during the pitch.

Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less close to their very best, while their opponents were situated in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.

An 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 on their own pitch, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that regardless of his residence, this famous ground will always be the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, Bath were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.

A Dramatic Decisive Moment

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who climb a little higher in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.

A Tale of Two Styles

The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by the away side kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.

The Tense Conclusion

Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, 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. In fact, their scoring opportunity arrived via an infrequent penalty at 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, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.