MATCH REPORT: Bath Rugby 27 Leicester Tigers 26
Captain Francois Louw's try six minutes from time gave Bath Rugby a bonus-point victory over fierce rivals Leicester Tigers in a pulsating Aviva Premiership contest at The Rec.
With Leicester needing victory to secure a home semi-final, Bath produced a brilliant performance to give their fans the perfect send-off in their final home game of the season.
Simon Taylor, Semesa Rokoduguni and Horacio Agulla also crossed the whitewash in a victory which means Gary Gold's side will take the fight for a top-six finish to the final game at Saracens in a fortnight's time.
Fly-half Toby Flood gave Leicester the lead with a close-range penalty after five minutes and Bath counterpart Stephen Donald failed to match his accuracy when presented with his own kickable attempt a minute later.
The hosts' disappointment did not last long, however, and a probing kick from full-back Ollie Devoto led to a scrum, from which Bath broke and Rob Webber was stopped just short in the corner.
Fellow front-row Paul James also went close but the ball eventually found its way to departing Scottish flanker Taylor, who crossed from close range on his last Bath appearance at The Rec. With Donald taking a knock in the build-up, Devoto took over kicking duties and duly split the posts.
The home side's advantage did not last long, though, and Leicester soon had their first try on the board. Hooker Tom Youngs played scrum-half for his brother Ben to feed flanker Tom Croft, who was left one-on-one with Devoto in the 22 and made easy work of the try. Flood converted.
The lead changed hands again when a poor pass from visiting full-back Matthew Tait was intercepted by Rokoduguni and the Fijian winger had the Leicester half at his mercy as he raced unchallenged to the whitewash.
Devoto's kick drifted just wide of the posts and Flood made him pay when he put the visitors back in front again with a perfectly-struck penalty.
Bath were then caught napping when they transgressed inside the Tigers' 22. Ben Youngs took a quick tap penalty and, with the home players still retreating, the scrum-half raced 70 metres to cross the whitewash without a finger being laid on him.
Flood added the extras as Donald continued his own struggles with the boot when he sent a penalty wide of the posts five minutes before the break.
The New Zealand World Cup winner more than made amends with the last play of the half, however, with Bath hauling themselves within one point of the visitors.
Donald initially sent a kick to the corner and when the hosts won the lineout, the fly-half booted crossfield to pick out winger Agulla, who sidestepped Tait to score. Donald converted his toughest kick of the day out wide on the left.
After such a breathless opening period the start of the second half was naturally a slower-paced affair. Two Flood penalties and one from Bath replacement Tom Heathcote were the only points that arrived in the opening quarter of an hour.
Heathcote then saw another penalty attempt that would have brought Bath to within one point again come back off the posts, while a last-ditch tackle from Manu Tuilagi ushered Agulla into touch after Devoto found him in space.
The game burst back into life six minutes from time when Bath got themselves in front for the first time in an hour. Replacement prop Anthony Perenise broke off a maul and held off two tacklers before putting skipper Louw into the corner. Heathcote saw a tough conversion attempt drift just past the posts from out wide on the right.
Gold's side showed their determination to clinch a return to the Heinken Cup for next season with a battling performance over the closing stages. They starved Tigers of possession and held out until the final whistle with a brilliant battling effort.
BATH RUGBY: Devoto, Rokoduguni, Williams (Heathcote 53), Eastmond, Agulla, Donald, Claassens (Stringer 70), James (Catt 61), Webber (Guinazu 61), Wilson (Perenise 60), Day (Gilbert 70), Attwood, Louw, Mercer (Gilbert 70), Taylor (Koster 64-73).
Tries: Taylor, Rokoduguni, Agulla, Louw. Conversions: Devoto, Donald. Penalty: Heathcote.
LEICESTER TIGERS: Tait, Smith, Tuilagi, Allen, Thompstone (Murphy 64), Flood, Youngs, Mulipola, Youngs, Cole (Castrogiovanni 71), Mafi (Slater 45), Parling, Croft, Salvi, Waldrom (Crane 53). Replacements not used: Hawkins, Balmain, Harrison, Bowden.
Tries: Croft, B Youngs. Conversions: Flood 2. Penalties: Flood 4.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Attendance: 12,200
