Leicester bark as bad as their bite

The footfall of 4,500 people shoehorned into the Crumbie Stand built to a crescendo of noise, supporters stamping in unison. Beneath the structure lie the dressingrooms. Once in the tunnel the noise is deafening, it is meant to be so, a tradition of intimidation. Welcome to Welford Road, home of the Leicester Tigers.

A crowd of 15,873 provided a wonderfully noisy backdrop to Saturday's Allied Dunbar League Premier Division dogfight, habitually a gritty, passionate encounter where the bitter rivalry is manifest in the physical collisions. Geordan Murphy is in his second season at Leicester, a 20-year-old Newbridge lad with huge potential, but Saturday was a keynote occasion.

He would later reveal that he has never experienced anything like the tension and pressure of the Bath match, that he sat quietly in the dressingroom, nerves frayed, sucking in huge gulps of air.

Thirteen first team appearances last season, eight tries and some rave reviews do not prepare a player for a high octane league match. This was a crunch match in the eyes of the Leicester faithful and the expectation was great.

Murphy bore additional mental baggage. Lions full back Tim Stimpson was officially ruled out with a cold, but the whispers suggested that coach Dean Richards had preferred the young Irishman. Time to justify that faith in front of the Sky cameras. "I was very nervous beforehand. Dean just smiled, told me to play it safe initially and that if we got a decent lead to then show people what I could do."

It never quite came to pass. Leicester did establish a sizeable advantage in double quick time through a brace of tries from England centre Will Greenwood, converted by Joel Stransky, but the ball seemed to elude Murphy on its infrequent travel to the wings.

"Jerry Guscott comes up really fast so the plan was to use cut-back options. I was never really able to get my hands on the ball."

Murphy's occasional cameos were largely defensive, a couple of fine catches, one neat halfbreak close to the touchline, several excellent touch finders and only two punts that betrayed early nerves. He also made his tackles, something that pleased him afterwards. But on Saturday Leicester's heroes were elsewhere, principally in an all-conquering eight, from lippy hooker Richard Cockerill, who ceaselessly baited his opposite number Andy Long, to Eric Miller's successor in the number eight jersey, Martin Corry. The former Bristol flanker's performance was awesome, replete with huge tackles, powerful surges and general footballing intelligence.

Despite only trailing by 11 points at the interval, Bath never really functioned with any potency, over-complication in possession, schoolboy errors and several low-key performances rendered them a poor second best.

One not afflicted by the malaise was Irish international Kevin Maggs, his powerful tackling and huge appetite for the less glamorous work ensuring that the blame for defeat would have be apportioned elsewhere. Coach Andy Robinson might look to the fumbling of the back three and poor decision making at half-back.

Two Mike Catt penalties and a conversion following a trademark Guscott try proved a miserable return against opponents who added further tries to Greenwood's brace from Jim Overend, Paul Gustard and Joel Stransky, who also added four conversions and a penalty.

Despite a relatively quiet afternoon Murphy was singled out, unsolicited, by both captain Martin Johnson and Richards for praise. Johnson paid tribute to the Irishman's performances since been introduced while Richards described him as "an outstanding talent."

Scoring sequence: 3 mins: Greenwood try, Stransky conversion, 7-0; 7: Greenwood try, Stransky conversion, 14-0; 15: Catt penalty, 14-3; 17: Overend try, Stransky conversion, 21-3; 22: Guscott try, Catt conversion, 21-10; 32: Catt penalty 21-13; 38: Stransky penalty, 24-13. Half- time: 24-13. 59: Gustard try, 29-13; 77: Stransky try, Stransky conversion 36-13.

LEICESTER: G Murphy; L Lloyd, M Greenwood, J Overend, N Ezulike; J Stransky, A Healy; D Jelley, R Cockerill, D Garforth; M Johnson (capt), N Fletcher; P Gustard, M Corry, N Back. Replacements: G Rowntree for Jelley 69 mins; D West for Cockerill 69 mins; L Moody for Gustard 76 mins; J Hamilton for Healy 79 mins; J Stuart for Greenwood 79 mins; M Poole for Fletcher 79 mins.

BATH: M Perry; I Balshaw, J Guscott, K Maggs, A Adebayo; M Catt, S Hatley; D Hilton, A Long, V Ubogu; N Redman, B Sturnham; N Thomas, E Peters, R Webster (capt). Replacements: R Earnshaw for Thomas 66 mins.

Referee: S Lander (England).