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Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest contests, the match involving the Tigers versus Bath proved to be heavily influenced by an emotion at half-time than the rugby during the pitch.

The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx of Tigers old boys in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced that he has been diagnosed with MND.

The last time Moody wore a Leicester 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 their very best, while Bath were situated enduring a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.

A Truly Emotional Welcome on Home Turf

The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, embracing the role of the unfancied team on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, the visiting side did not stand a chance. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

The Climax

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, darted blind, and the Bath prop 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 steal the win.

We might as well have been back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.

A Tale of Two Styles

The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries either side of half-time.

The Nail-Biting 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 secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.