Five of the best Bath v Leicester clashes

Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby are two of the most successful teams in the history of the English club game with 17 league titles between them - which will become 18 this weekend as they clash in the Final at Allianz Stadium.

Ever-present from the introduction of the league system in England in the 1980s, until the latest Gallagher Premiership Rugby season, Tigers against Bath is always one of the most anticipated game in the calendar.

Bath dominated the early seasons of the league, while Tigers were the dominant force at the turn of the century.

Ahead of their latest eagerly awaited showdown on Saturday, we have picked out five classic encounters over the last 25 years.

2000 – Leicester Tigers 43-25 Bath Rugby

In the 1999/2000 season, Tigers made it back-to-back titles with a week of the season to spare. Their final game saw them welcome nearest rivals Bath to Welford Road. While they could not be caught mathematically, there was a sense that Bath might be the better side and Leicester were clearly aware of it.

Bath led at the break by a single point, and Tigers lost skipper Martin Johnson to the sin-bin in the second half. But the introduction of Darren Garforth changed the dynamic of the game, with Neil Back helping himself to a hat-trick as Leicester ran away with it to cement their status as the league’s top dogs.

2014 – Leicester Tigers 27-27 Bath Rugby 

Fast-forward a decade and a half and Leicester were defending champions once again, welcoming a Bath team firing on all cylinders, with former Tigers fly-half George Ford pulling the strings. 

The teams met in early January, with Miles Benjamin putting the home side into an early lead before scores from Anthony Watson, Francois Louw and Jonathan Joseph allowed Bath to pull clear. 

They led 27-17 with quarter of an hour remaining, but tries from Thomas Waldrom and Jamie Gibson saw Tigers draw level, with Owen Williams off-target with a conversion to win the game from the touchline as the spoils were shared. 

2015 – Bath Rugby 47-10 Leicester Tigers

For two teams who have faced off so often, there have been very few meetings in Play-Off rugby. In 2015 though, Bath clinched a first place in a Premiership Rugby Final in more than a decade when they powered past Tigers at the Rec.

Bath made their intentions clear from the off, with Matt Banahan scoring the first of three tries after just two minutes.

They led 21-10 at the break, despite losing two men to the sin-bin, and continued to pull away in the second half with Banahan completing his hat-trick to secure a spot to Twickenham – although Bath went onto lose to Saracens in the showpiece.

2019 – Leicester Tigers 31-32 Bath Rugby

The Todd Blackadder era in Bath finished on a high in 2019 as the Blue and Blacks claimed a dramatic victory on the final day of the season.

The former All Black departed after a three-year spell at the Rec, signing off with a last-gasp success that clinched sixth place and European rugby for the following season.

At one point, Tigers had led by 11 points with Ford now back at Leicester and running the show. But in the second half, Bath fought back, first through a Beno Obano try before Jacques van Rooyen crashed over in the 79th minute to get the visitors to within a point. Rhys Priestland made no mistake with the conversion and Bath took the spoils.

2021 – Leicester Tigers 36-31 Bath Rugby

The Leicester Tigers revolution under Steve Borthwick was gathering steam when Bath visited the East Midlands on the first weekend of 2021. While they had to wait another year to get back to the promised land of Gallagher Premiership Rugby glory, Tigers were starting to rediscover the form that had made them contenders for so long.

When Bath came to town, they found themselves in big trouble early on, Beno Obano and Ben Spencer firing the visitors into a 14-0 lead.

But Tigers fought back, Freddie Steward crossing before half-time and tries from Harry Wells and Cam Henderson allowing them to pull clear. Bath got back to within five points through Cam Redpath but Tigers held on for the win.

via premiershiprugby.com