Saints to use loss as motivation for next season, says Ludlam

It was not Saints’ day on Saturday as they suffered a 27-14 defeat to Leicester Tigers in the Premiership semi-final, but Lewis Ludlam says they will use the loss constructively going into next season. 

"It's a tough pill to swallow really and you can't really put it into words," he said after the game.  

"They were the better team on the day unfortunately. 

"We can be proud of this group, and the way we've behaved in the past few months has been fantastic, and I couldn't be prouder of the boys. 

"We wanted to be play again this week but it wasn't to be I suppose. 

"The tough thing is that we had the chances and we just didn't finish them. 

"When you get to the top end of the game, in knockout rugby, that's the difference - they took their chances and we didn't take ours. 

"It's back to the drawing board. 

"We'll use it as fire and motivation for next year. 

"There's a lot of lads leaving but this group isn't done. 

"We've just got to use this as fuel. 

"We'll come back next season, use this and get better."