Searle's Final-Second Kick Secures Poignant Leicester Win Over Bath Rugby

Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's greatest rivalries, the match involving Leicester and Bath was heavily influenced by the emotional tribute during half-time as the rugby on play.

Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers old boys to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, after he revealed his diagnosis with MND.

When Moody last pulled on a Leicester shirt at Welford Road, a decade and a half past, prior to joining their rivals Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester remained still at their very best, whereas their opponents were situated in the middle of a lengthy period devoid of championship success. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. Bath arrived as champions, marking the first occasion they've held that status since the 1990s.

A Truly Passionate Reception at Welford Road

The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, served up a classic, robust reception, relishing their status as 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 remains the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault deep in Bath territory, the Tigers won a crucial penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

A Dramatic Decisive Moment

The replacement fly-half, on for the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his first start for Leicester, took a quick tap, and the Bath prop made a high tackle, an infringement for which he saw yellow. With the last kick, Searle landed the penalty from a difficult angle to steal the win.

We might as well have been transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, can take great encouragement that their traditional, direct approach can still yield results, no matter the pedigree they face.

A Tale of Two Game Plans

Bath were sublime with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, after a bewildering first half-hour which saw them trail 17-7, adapted to starve them of possession. A deluge of penalties against Bath kept Bath under constant pressure, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts 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 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 for tries just before and just after the break.

A Tense Finish

That earned Tigers the lead, an advantage they maintained for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to score their fourth. Actually, their breakthrough came with a rare penalty at the scrum, with their South African reinforcements now on the field. Finn Russell, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick inside the final ten minutes.

This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, initiated by the lively Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.