Ludlam says Saints players must take responsibility for slip-up at Bath

Ludlam and Co dominated for long periods at The Rec, but they failed to take their chances while opening the door at the other end of the field.

Bath scored from both visits to the 22 in the first half before an intercept try helped them home in the second.

It was a hugely frustrating afternoon for Saints, who saw their four-match winning run in all competitions come to an end.

Saints had just about got the job done in Gallagher Premiership wins against Wasps and Newcastle Falcons prior to their trip to The Rec.

But they couldn't see off a Bath side who claimed their first league victory of the campaign at the seventh attempt.

“It’s a similar performance to the last two or three weeks,” Ludlam said.

“The difference is in the last two or three weeks we’ve managed to scrape through at the end, but this time we left ourselves with way too much to do.

“The improvement needs to come from us, as players, within and focusing on our own individual jobs.

“The ball is the most important thing and we’re not looking after that well enough, we’re probably overthinking a lot of things, but looking after the ball is key.

“We know when we build phases, we put teams under pressure, but when we cough up the ball after two or three phases, we release the pressure too quickly.”

Saints were continually undone at the breakdown, conceding penalty after penalty in that area.

And Ludlam said: “The most frustrating thing is we know that when we get our game right, we’re dangerous to stop.

“We see it in periods, what’s frustrating is we don’t do it for long enough. We cough up the ball way too many times, especially in the 22.

“We understood they were going to come for our breakdown, we knew that was going to be their plan and we didn’t quite solve that well enough or quickly enough.”

Saints will now bid to get back on track when they host Bristol Bears on Saturday.

And Ludlam said: “It’s a different challenge against Bristol. They’re a structured side, but they throw the ball around and have less of a kicking game.

“We enjoy playing in games like them, but we’ve got to figure out a way to win when teams aren’t playing similar ways to us, when a team kicks the leather of the ball or puts pressure at the maul or scrum and really invest in their defence.

“We need to be better at adapting, but the good thing is we’ve got another challenge against Bristol, a chance to go again and put a lot of wrongs right.”