Bath ended the 29-year-old British title drought, survived a slow surge by old rival Leicester, and won the memorable Trophy Treble at Twickenham on Saturday, completing the memorable Trophy Treble.
Tries Tries by Thomas du Toit and Max Ojomoh gave Bath a healthy lead in the second half. Leicester alone set up a nail biting finale, with a hit with Solomon Kata and Emeka Illione’s try in search of a record 12th title.
Losing a similar match to Northampton a year ago, Bath completed the memorable high notes after lifting up the Premiership Cup and the European Challenge Cup, which had not won a domestic trophy since the 1996 league and cup double.
“I made a lot of mistakes today. I didn’t play the best, but I found a way to win. It’s hard to beat,” Finn Russell said.
“The main thing about this team is the circle we got as a group: players, staff, we have the whole city behind us.
Guy Pepper, Man of the Match Bass Flanker, said it was a surreal experience.
“The group’s premiere meant a lot,” he said. “I don’t think Europe and the Prem Cup are important this week. That’s a sigh of massive relief, I’m over the moon.”
At the first final meeting between teams that dominated the English match for 20 years, Leicester looked sharp from the off, with Scrum Half Jack Vampleto Friet sneaking in the line to advance after five minutes to follow the powerful mall.
Bath responded with an incredible drive where Russell reached for his first attempt to convert and ended with the fly half reaching out to give his side a 13-7 half-time lead with a 50-meter penalty added.
Leicester’s South African fly half Handle Pollard was terrified for five minutes, dragging the entire penalty along the way before the wrong pass was picked up by Russell.
Scotland International had certainly shown to sprint through the line, but decided to look like it would settle the match 29 years after Ojomo slings an internal pass to land under the post and his father Steve bathed in the last domestic trophy on the same ground.
Pepper thought he had scored one of the Great Final Trys after defeating a series of tackles, but only had TMO ruled out it due to a slight knock-on in the build-up.
Leicester launched a series of tri-line forward attacks that ended with Kata narrowing down and after Pollard was converted they were only six points behind, 12 minutes late.
Their hopes fell into dent when an alternative prop dungeon call on the pitch for just 10 minutes was carded yellow to bring the Inglourious end to his 343-game Leicester career due to Russell’s slow hit.
Russell led the resulting penalty to the slot, but Leicester came again and the giant alternative Illione got a try converted by Pollard, making it a two-point game in three minutes.
A year ago, 14 buses were knocking on the door, and they were in short supply against Northampton in the end, but this time the team, who finished the league’s bottom three years ago, had a fun victory to win a great season.
“Of course I’m disappointed, but Bath has been good all season,” said Leicester captain Julian Montoya.
“It’s a great honor to be one of the Leicester Tigers, but we’re disappointed because we wanted that trophy. Today wasn’t enough for the moment of the game.”
– British and Ireland Lions: Dive deep into Andy Farrell’s team at ESPN’s Tom Hamilton
– British & Ireland Lions 2025: Australia Tour Fixture
– British & Irish Lions Watch: ESPN Writers Choose Starting XVS for Australia Tour