Billy Searle's Last-Minute Penalty Delivers Emotional Leicester Win Over Bath

Against the backdrop of one of rugby union's greatest contests, this fixture involving Leicester and Bath proved to be as much about the emotion at half-time as any on-field action on the pitch.

Martin Johnson headed a contingent comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has revealed his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt here, 15 years ago, prior to joining their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained still at the peak of their powers, whereas Bath found themselves enduring a long drought without the title. Times have changed since. Bath came into the match as title holders, the first time they have called themselves that since the 1990s.

An Emotional Welcome on Home Turf

The Tigers, riding a powerful emotional surge, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as underdogs on their own pitch, the large home crowd further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that regardless of his residence, 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 managed to coax a crucial penalty out of the Bath defence.

The Climax

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop caught him high, 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.

We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Certainly, the home team, who moved up the table in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that a familiar frontal assault remains effective, no matter the pedigree they face.

Contrasting Styles

The visitors 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 conceded by Bath put Bath on the back foot, their pack thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts for most of the match.

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

A Nail-Biting Finish

Those scores gave Leicester 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 score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.

This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins down the left. Having won the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, poor Du Toit conceded where he is not. There could be only one result.