Billy Searle's Final-Second Kick Delivers Poignant Leicester Victory Against Bath

Amidst one of English rugby's most storied rivalries, the match between the Tigers and the visitors proved to be as much about the emotion at the interval than any on-field action during the pitch.

The legendary Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Leicester former players to pay tribute to the great Lewis Moody, who has announced that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

The last time Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, prior to joining Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, the home side were more or less close to their very best, whereas their opponents were situated enduring a long drought without the title. The landscape has shifted dramatically since then. The Tigers’ great rivals came into the match as title holders, the first time they've held that status since the 1990s.

An Passionate Welcome at Welford Road

The Tigers, on a wave of emotion, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of the unfancied team in their own stadium, the 18,000 Midlanders further emboldened by Moody’s confession during the break that, no matter where he may live, Welford Road will always be his rugby home.

Looking back, the visiting side were always up against it. True to form, in a last-minute assault 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 seasoned Australian making his debut start for Leicester, took a quick tap, before Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. With the last kick, Searle slotted the penalty kick on an angle to steal the win.

It felt like being transported back of Moody’s pomp. Without a doubt, the home team, who climb a little higher in a congested league, will be heartened that their traditional, direct approach remains effective, regardless of the quality they face.

A Tale of Two Styles

The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. So Leicester, following a confusing opening period in which they fell 17-7 behind, learned to deprive them of any. A succession of penalties against the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards comprehensively bested in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, neither scored from more than a yard; Bath’s three were works of art. Frost, Underhill, and Redpath scored the tries, either side of Cracknell's score for Leicester. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith forced their way over for tries just before and just after the break.

A Tense Conclusion

Those scores gave Leicester the lead, which they held for most of the second half. It appeared inevitable before Bath secured sufficient possession to score their fourth. Actually, their scoring opportunity came with a rare penalty at the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, after missing two earlier kicks, landed the kick with a little less than 10 minutes to play.

This merely galvanized Leicester for one last, brutish assault, set up by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. After earning the penalty that earned Bath the lead in a situation he relishes, the unfortunate prop conceded where he is not. The outcome was then a foregone conclusion.