Searle's Final-Second Kick Delivers Emotional Tigers Win Against Bath

Against the backdrop of a classic English rugby's most storied rivalries, this match involving Leicester versus the visitors was heavily influenced by the emotion during the interval than the on-field action during the pitch.

Martin Johnson led a phalanx comprising Tigers former players to pay tribute to Lewis Moody, who has revealed that he has been diagnosed with MND.

When Moody last pulled on a Leicester jersey at Welford Road, 15 years ago, before moving to Bath for the last two years in a distinguished playing career, Leicester were more or less still at their very best, while their opponents were situated enduring a lengthy period without the title. Times have changed since. Bath arrived as champions, the first time they've held that status in over two decades.

A Truly Emotional Reception on Home Turf

Leicester, riding a powerful emotional surge, offered them an old-fashioned welcome, embracing the role of underdogs in their own stadium, the large home crowd greatly inspired by Moody's heartfelt admission during the break that regardless of his residence, Welford Road remains the home of his rugby heart.

Looking back, Bath were always up against it. Sure enough, during a final, desperate attack on the Bath line, the Tigers managed to coax one last penalty from the tiring Bath defenders.

A Dramatic Decisive Moment

The replacement fly-half, who replaced the excellent James O'Connor, the experienced Wallaby making his debut start for the club, took a quick tap, and Thomas du Toit made a high tackle, for which offence he received a yellow card. From the final play, Searle landed the penalty on an angle to steal the win.

We might as well have been transported back to Lewis Moody's prime. Without a doubt, Leicester, who climb a little higher in the mid-table bun fight, will be heartened that a familiar frontal assault can still yield results, regardless of the quality of the opponent.

Contrasting Styles

The visitors were a different class with ball in hand. Therefore, Leicester, following a confusing opening period which saw them trail 17-7, learned to deprive them of any. A deluge of penalties conceded by the away side put Bath on the back foot, their forwards thoroughly outplayed in the scrums and lineouts throughout the game.

Leicester’s three tries were carbon copies of each other, all scored from close range; Bath's three tries were works of art. Dan Frost, Sam Underhill and Cameron Redpath were the finishers, before and after Ollie Cracknell’s try for Tigers. Subsequently, on the back of those penalties, Reffell and Smith powered over for tries either side of half-time.

A Nail-Biting Conclusion

That earned Tigers a narrow advantage, which they held for the majority of the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Bath won enough ball to grab a fourth try. Actually, their breakthrough arrived via an infrequent penalty in the scrum, their South Africans by then on. The fly-half, having missed two of his three earlier attempts, successfully converted the penalty inside the final ten minutes.

This merely galvanized Leicester to launch one final, powerful assault, initiated by the energetic Hassell-Collins on the left wing. Having won the penalty that put Bath ahead where he is most comfortable, poor Du Toit gave away a penalty in a vulnerable position. There could be only one result.