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Against the backdrop of a classic rugby union's greatest contests, the fixture involving the Tigers and Bath proved to be as much about an emotion at half-time as the on-field action on the pitch.

Martin Johnson headed a phalanx of Tigers former players in honour of Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side remained still at their very best, whereas Bath were situated enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.

A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf

Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, 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, this famous ground remains his rugby home.

In retrospect, Bath did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

A Dramatic Climax

Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before the Bath prop caught him high, an infringement for which he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to steal the win.

It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, Leicester, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.

A Tale of Two Styles

The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards thoroughly outplayed at the set piece for most of the match.

The Tigers' three touchdowns were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries just before and just after the break.

The Tense Finish

Those scores gave Leicester a narrow advantage, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. In fact, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, successfully converted the penalty with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

That only inspired Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. 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.