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Searle's Final-Second Penalty Delivers Emotional Tigers Win Over Bath Rugby
Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, the match involving Leicester and the visitors was as much about the emotion at the interval than any rugby during the pitch.
The legendary Martin Johnson led a contingent comprising Tigers former players in honour of the great Lewis Moody, after he announced his diagnosis with MND.
When Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining Bath for the last two years of a storied career, the home side were more or less close to their very best, while their opponents found themselves enduring a lengthy period devoid of championship success. Times have changed since. The Tigers’ great rivals arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.
An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road
Leicester, on a wave of emotion, served up an old-fashioned welcome, relishing their status as the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders greatly inspired by Moody’s confession at half-time that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road remains his rugby home.
In retrospect, the visiting side were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, Leicester won one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.
The Decisive Moment
The replacement fly-half, on for the impressive James O’Connor, the seasoned Australian making his first start for the club, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty 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 the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, no matter the pedigree of the opponent.
Contrasting Game Plans
The visitors were sublime when in possession. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties against the away side kept Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.
Leicester’s three tries were remarkably similar, all scored from close range; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Tommy Reffell and Nicky Smith powered over to score just before and just after the break.
The Tense Finish
That earned Tigers the lead, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath secured sufficient possession to grab a fourth try. In fact, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.
That only inspired 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, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.
Arthur Perry
Elara Vance is a luxury travel expert with over a decade of experience exploring exclusive destinations worldwide.
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