Ludlam: We didn’t adapt to the game quick enough

Captain Lewis Ludlam believed Northampton Saints did not adapt in a swift enough fashion to Leicester Tigers’ breakdown threat in the East Midlands Derby.

Saints’ three-game unbeaten streak in the Gallagher Premiership came to an end on Saturday afternoon at Mattioli Woods Welford Road as they were beaten 26-17 by their old rivals.

The men in Black, Green and Gold trailed by only six points at half-time, but ill-discipline plagued their performance, with tries from George Furbank and Sam Matavesi being cancelled out by two Tigers scores as ultimately Handre' Pollard’s successful penalties proved the difference between the two sides.

“I think most importantly, we need to look at that first half,” said Ludlam. “They caused our breakdown way too many issues and didn’t allow us to apply pressure for long periods of time. In the last 15-20 minutes, we saw that when we do get our breakdown right, we can put a lot of pressure on teams and get breaks out of them. We just didn’t adapt quickly enough.

“I think the way we play; our shape is a little bit wider, which leaves us prone to those inside competes. Tommy Reffell is one of the best in the Premiership at turning over the ball at ruck time, and he caused us way too many issues. 

“When the weather is how it was, we probably need to tighten our game up just a little bit more so we can give ourselves a better opportunity at getting quick ball. It is just an adaptation thing, but we need to fix them sooner.”

Saints conceded 20 penalties throughout the game, and Ludlam knows his side need to be squeaky clean in that department, especially away from home.

“We probably feel a little bit hard done by in that respect,” he added. “But I think, coming away from home, you have got to expect those decisions to go against you. 

“We have got to be better at adapting and being crystal clear and super clean in our game, so that when we do go away from home, we can apply that pressure and not release it too easily.”

Saints were not able to impose their game enough on Tigers throughout the 80 minutes, but Ludlam  remains completely behind his side’s style of play – even though it didn’t deliver the desired result at the weekend.

“You can’t win them all, it’s just about giving ourselves the best chance. We fully believe we’ve got that right game plan to do that and unfortunately, we didn’t get those basics right to really go and put our game on the park.”

There is no time to dwell on the defeat as Saints have a six-day turnaround, with Harlequins the visitors to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night with both teams looking to get back to winning ways.

“I think this will be when our defence really has to come to the party,” Ludlam added.

“We have seen improvement to our defence this season so against a team like Quins that are super-hot and going to test you mentally for 80 minutes it’s on our ability to stay in it and those penalties come down to our control and our ability to want to defend for long periods of time and have enough confidence that we can.”