Ludlam says Saints must try not to change too much after latest setback

After a couple of weekends without a league game, Saints returned to Premiership action at Gloucester on Saturday evening.

But there was little to celebrate as Phil Dowson's side suffered a 34-19 defeat, failing to make the most of their possession and leaving the door open at the other end of the field.

"It was frustrating," Ludlam said.

"We wanted to come down here and get a result, especially with the internationals back in.

"We really felt like we had enough opportunities there to get the result, but unfortunately we didn't convert enough of them.

"It was a frustrating day but I think there's positives in there.

"It's just important that as a team we focus on what we're doing and we don't go away from it.

"We just need to tweak a few bits of our game then go into next week.

"There will be things to work on again and then the following week we'll be better.

"We can't get frustrated or change what we're doing because it's giving us opportunities - we just need to start converting them.

"We had the chances and that has been the recurring theme for us.

"We're very good at making chances and we've had a high quantity of them.

"The nature of the way we play means that sometimes it's not going to happen, however we get loads of cracks at it.

"If we take two or three more of those chances, we're flying.

"If we tweak our defence a little bit, be more dominant and be better at our ability to wrestle back momentum then we're flying so that's the positive thing.

"We've just got to go after it in training on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and the week after that, and see where it gets us."

Gloucester had few chances during the first half against Saints, however they were able to lead at the break as the black, green and gold were cut open in defence.

"Gloucester came with a slightly different game plan to what we expected," Ludlam said.

"We expected more mauls, for them to keep it in longer and I felt we dealt with their maul very well but they were very good at adapting and playing away from it.

"When they did that, we weren't quick enough to wrestle that momentum back and put their big ball carriers back on the back foot to give ourselves the best chance to defend.

"It was frustrating and we did most of what we talked about defensively, but we need to be better at two-man shots, hitting people backwards."

Next up for Saints is a daunting trip to reigning European champions La Rochelle on Saturday evening.

And Ludlam said: "It's a change of focus and it's the perfect challenge for us.

"There's obviously loads of frustration after this week but we've got a new competition, a new challenge and everyone on the outside will deem us underdogs.

"But it's a challenge we're really excited for and it's something we can really get our teeth into.

"These are the reasons you play rugby, to challenge yourself against the best rugby teams in the world.

"As a group, it's the first chance we've had to do it in a while so we're really excited about going over there and seeing how we go."