The reception was rousing, nary an eye left dry nor a seat left occupied as the Leicester faithful rose to their feet. As Lewis Moody strode on to the Welford Road surface after the toughest few weeks of his life, it was with the courage that characterised his career; his playing days may be long behind him but the former Tigers, Bath and England flanker has surely never felt more love.
Not two weeks after announcing that he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), this meeting of his two former clubs brought Moody back to the parish he for so long called home as one of the finest players and people this club has ever produced. Moody’s image adorns the “Wall of Legends” that sits adjacent to the club shop in the Europcar stand; he may have been born in Ascot and finished his career at Bath, but the flanker is one of Tigers’ own. Let us hope there are many more visits yet, for games just like the one enjoyed here – fierce, ferocious and thrilling to the last, settled with the final kick of Billy Searle’s boot to give the home side victory.
“It’s slightly overwhelming,” an emotional Moody said in a half-time chat on the pitch, before the words failed to come. He could at least make light of it: “I’m sure the lads are going to rip the p*** out of me for that.
“It’s been 15 years since I got to set foot on this pitch, and that was playing. To be back at Welford Road, at this special venue, with mates, with family, with all of you guys – it’s truly special.
“It’s been a tough few weeks but the love and support I’ve been shown has been second to none and I feel it deeply. I’m incredibly grateful. I had 15 years at Leicester, and many years before that sat in the stands chanting various different songs.
“Then I got the privilege of going to Bath as well. When people ask me who I support – Bath is my home, I’ve been there 15 years, my son is a mascot there and they love it. But Leicester is always my rugby home.”
Sadly, MND is a condition with which this grand old club is all too familiar: already they contest the Slater Cup against Gloucester that is named after former second row Ed, while Kevin Sinfield, who has done so much in public and private to raise awareness and support those with the disease, spent time on the Tigers coaching staff.
Leicester has always been a special rugby community, one whose support was clear from the moment Moody’s diagnosis was publicised. Ahead of kick-off, a group of past Tigers – the so-called Sabretooths – were out rattling buckets and thrusting card machines at the passing public, urging them to give; many will have, most generously, in support of Moody and the wider cause.
Harry Ellis, the former scrum-half, obviously drew the short straw, being soundly beaten by his son in a half-time zorbing contest, before the gathered legends – from Martin Johnson to Henry Tuilagi – were given opportunity to embarrass themselves under the high ball, all in the name of their great mate. Nobody told this lot that tigers are meant to be solitary creatures.
Moody was part of that golden age at Leicester, a contributor to runs of four consecutive titles and three in four years at either end of his long, distinguished service. They are the sort of Prem dynasties that this Bath side are hoping to forge, having ended their 29-year wait for success last season – but their unbeaten start was snapped here on a day where Tigers were perhaps playing for something more.
The defending champions had looked in ominous form through four rounds, overcoming the absences of Finn Russell and a sprinkling of other stars. They were altogether shakier in the first half here but still led at the interval, with Henry Arundell bright and buzzy down the left wing and influential in two of their three first-half scores. It would have pleased England attack coach Lee Blackett, watching on from the stands, with Arundell set for a recall to a pre-autumn training squad that will assemble at Pennyhill Park on Sunday.
Yet Leicester at their best make this place a fortress, and were not going to let it be ransacked with one of their great warriors back in town. Back to their strengths, then – a meaty maul and short-range Nicky Smith shove either side of half time nudged the home side two points in front.
That advantage was eroded by a 73rd-minute Russell penalty, but it was a Leicester fly-half who had the telling say. Off the bench for James O’Connor, Searle was caught in a high tackle by replacement Bath prop Thomas du Toit. Looking up between the posts towards the box where Moody and his sons were sat, Searle set the match-winning penalty on course.
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