'Why Not Us?' is back as Saints bid to follow in the footsteps of 2013 side

The home side were huge favourites, having topped the table and having never previously lost at the stadium that was then known as Allianz Park.

Saints, in contrast, had endured a hugely mixed campaign and were expected to bow out of the title race in Barnet.

But under the 'Why Not Us?' banner that they hung in the away dressing room, they roused themselves to do something special.

And something special was exactly what they produced as they came flying out of the blocks to grab a stunning 17-0 lead before eventually finishing the job in a 27-13 success.

It was a memorable afternoon that set up a showpiece against Leicester Tigers, who eventually prevailed at Twickenham.

And it was an 80 minutes that any Saints supporter who witnessed it will still remember fondly and clearly.

Lewis Ludlam was only 17 at the time but he recalls what Saints achieved that day well.

And he is now desperate to help this Saints team enjoy a similarly special afternoon as they travel to Saracens for the play-off semi-final on Saturday.

Once again, the black, green and gold will be underdogs against a team who have not lost at home in the league during the campaign.

But Ludlam said: "It's a nice position to be in, to be able to take the pressure off ourselves, enjoy being the underdogs and enjoy messing up the party a little bit.

"We're under no illusions that they're a fantastic side and it's going to be a fantastic challenge, but tell me: why not us?

"Why don't we have the opportunity to win that game if we get our game right?

"Play-offs are different and anything can happen in play-offs.

"We've seen what happened all those years ago when Saints won the Premiership.

"I was sitting in the stands as a supporter, not being involved with the club at that point, and the boys here are desperate for a slice of that history and a slice of those memories.

"Those games when Tom Wood scores in the corner, we want a piece of that history.

"The boys are desperate to get their hands on it.

"We understand the challenge that awaits us but the boys are desperate and excited about making their own history now."

While Saints will not shy away from the challenge that lies in wait this weekend, they know exactly how tough it will be to beat Saracens.

"They're extremely consistent in what they're doing, they're relentless and they're meticulous in their game plan and how they prepare,” Ludlam said.

“They've very good at doing the same thing over and over so if you switch off for a moment, you get punished.

“It's about everyone staying in the game at all times and making sure we're in it so that when they do decide to pull the trigger, we're ready.”