Billy Searle's Final-Second Penalty Delivers Poignant Tigers Victory Over Bath Rugby

Against the backdrop of one of English rugby's greatest contests, this match between Leicester and the visitors was as much about the emotional tribute during half-time than the rugby during play.

Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester former players in honour of Lewis Moody, after he revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

When Moody last pulled on the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for the last two years 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 without the title. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.

A Truly Emotional Reception on Home Turf

The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.

In retrospect, Bath were always up against it. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

The Climax

Billy Searle, on for the excellent James O’Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, darted blind, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to snatch a dramatic victory.

It felt like being back in the days to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, the home team, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, no matter the pedigree they face.

Contrasting Game Plans

The visitors were a different class when in possession. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A succession of penalties conceded by Bath put Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.

Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, capitalizing on the penalty count, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.

A Nail-Biting Conclusion

That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held 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 in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.

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 where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.