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Amidst one of English rugby's greatest contests, this fixture between the Tigers and Bath was as much about the emotion during the interval than any on-field action on play.

Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease.

The last time Moody wore a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less close to the peak of their powers, whereas their opponents were situated in the middle of a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.

A Truly Passionate Welcome on Home Turf

Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break that regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.

Looking back, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, in a last-minute assault on the Bath line, Leicester 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 seasoned Australian making his debut start for the club, darted blind, before the Bath prop made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle slotted the penalty kick from a difficult angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

It felt like being transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.

A Tale of Two Styles

Bath were sublime when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour in which they fell 17-7 behind, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties against Bath kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.

Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Leicester. Then, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.

The Nail-Biting Finish

Those scores gave Leicester the lead, an advantage they maintained for most of the second half. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. In fact, their scoring opportunity 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 inside the final ten minutes.

This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.