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Amidst a classic rugby union's greatest rivalries, this fixture between the Tigers versus Bath was as much about the emotion during half-time as any on-field action on the pitch.

Martin Johnson headed a phalanx comprising Leicester former players in honour of Lewis Moody, who has announced his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody wore the Tigers' jersey here, a decade and a half past, before moving to their rivals Bath for his final two seasons of a storied career, Leicester were more or less still at the peak of their powers, while their opponents found themselves enduring a long drought devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status in over two decades.

A Truly Emotional Welcome on Home Turf

Leicester, on a wave of emotion, offered them 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 during the break that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, the visiting side did not stand a chance. True to form, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers won one last penalty out of the Bath defence.

A Dramatic Decisive Moment

Billy Searle, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for the club, darted blind, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, an infringement for which he received a yellow card. 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. Without a doubt, the home team, who moved up the table in a congested league, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, regardless of the quality of the opponent.

A Tale of Two Game Plans

The visitors were sublime with ball in hand. So Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against Bath put Bath under constant pressure, their pack comprehensively bested at the set piece for most of the match.

The Tigers' three touchdowns were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were studies in poetry. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, either side of Cracknell's score for Leicester. Then, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.

The Tense Finish

That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held for the majority of the second period. It appeared inevitable before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. 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, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins down the left. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.