Aviva Premiership: Louw leaves it late as Bath beat Leicester
Bath boosted their Heineken Cup hopes after Francois Louw's late try earned a 27-26 victory over Leicester at the Rec.
Last Updated: 20/04/13 6:29pm
A frenetic opening period saw Bath's Simon Taylor grab the first of five first-half tries, the former Scotland No 8 crashing over the line the day after it was announced that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Leicester and England flanker Tom Croft then hit back with a fine finish of his own, leaving his England team-mate David Wilson for dead before sidestepping his way around Bath full-back Ollie Devoto to put the Tigers ahead.
The Tigers'attacking game-plan then cost them, Semesa Rokoduguni intercepting for Bath to run in from 40 metres out and restore the hosts' lead.
A penalty from Flood edged Leicester back in front before Ben Youngs added a sensational solo score - catching the Bath defence unawares by taking a tap penalty before swerving his way upfield for an 80-metre try.
Horacio Agulla countered with a try against his old side, collecting Donald's cross-field chip to go over, with Donald's conversion leaving the score at 19-20 by half-time.
Penalties from replacement Tom Heathcote and Flood added to the scoreboard after the break.
The carefree rugby of the first half though was replaced by an attritional battle, substitutes making an impact from the bench as Bath missed a crucial penalty to narrow the gap to a single point when Heathcote's kick hit the post.
A breakthrough was on the cards and eventually it came - Louw taking the offload from Perenise before spectacularly diving over in the corner to put Bath ahead by a point.
Louw also illustrated his hard work at the breakdown with a crucial turnover from the restart and from there Bath hung on for their best win of the season, in the process keeping their top-six hopes alive.