Johnson fails to save fortress Leicester

Leicester 12 Bath 13

Dean Richards, one-time member of the Leicestershire constabulary, had his collar felt by the Rugby Football Union some years ago for kicking the Calcutta Cup round Edinburgh. There could be a repeat performance if the World Cup comes anywhere near the Tigers' hangdog director of rugby.

The Webb Ellis trophy will not, apparently, be at Welford Road until 3 January - it is following the Sky TV cameras around, rather than rushing to where the strongest England representation resides. But Richards gave the impression he would happily put off the little gold pot's arrival indefinitely. This was Leicester's fourth home defeat of the season, at what was not long ago the game's greatest fortress. England's ecstasy has been the Tigers' undoing.

Leicester did their best to lend the occasion some gravitas, but the seamless season has them caught between a rock and a hard Heineken Cup date in Paris next Saturday.

Even Bath's three England men got a cheer from the capacity crowd - akin to the lions having a boozy night out with the Christians. But the impending trip to Stade Français obliged Richards to give all seven of his world champions a run. Martin Johnson and company appeared at irregular intervals, to great acclaim but little concerted effect, and Bath survived what might have been the first half from hell to win deservedly.

Fortified by a host of non-World Cup players in each row of the forward pack, Bath, with 11 wins in 12 league and cup games, have rediscovered their old obdurate streak. Nor were they hampered noticeably by a hamstring injury to Mike Catt - ironic, this, after the fly-half's injury-free couple of months in Australia - or the 24th-minute dismissal of the scrum-half, Martyn Wood, for stamping.

With Lewis Moody in overdrive after about a dozen minutes' action for England in the World Cup's last fortnight, Leicester looked good for about 10 minutes. Ramiro Pez kicked them into a 6-0 lead, but his inside passes and occasional chip kicks were not penetrative enough; Bath counter- attacked superbly for Andrew Higgins's 17th-minute try, and led 10-6 at half-time.

With the scrums in a mess, neither side built much of an attacking platform, but Bath were more cohesive. They responded to two more Pez penalties with what proved to be the winning kick from Olly Barkley after 75 minutes.

Johnson will find his smile again to meet the Queen next Monday. Here he was in full frown: "That's the sort of game we'd have put away a couple of years ago. The reception from the crowd was great, what we did [with England] last week was tremendous. But I'd rather have won the game. The good thing is we can be a 25 per cent better team just by getting some practice."

Leicester: Penalties Pez 4. Bath: Try Higgins; Conversion Barkley; Penalties Barkley 2.

Leicester: A Healey; F Tuilagi (G Gelderbloom, 76), O Smith, D Gibson, J Holtby; R Pez, T Tierney (S Vesty, 64); G Rowntree (capt; D Morris, 20), J Richards (D West, 53), J White, L Deacon, B Kay (M Johnson, h-t), M Corry, A Balding, L Moody (N Back, 43)

Bath: M Perry; W Human, A Higgins (R Kydd, 54), O Barkley, S Danielli; M Catt (M Tindall, 25), M Wood; D Flatman, J Humphreys (capt; L Mears, 57), D Bell (M Stevens, 64), S Borthwick, R Fidler (D Grewcock, 64), A Beattie, I Feaunati, J Scaysbrook (H Martens, 27).

Referee: R Maybank (London).