Saints 'second best in every area' on 'tough afternoon' at Exeter

The black, green and gold were beaten 31-14 in a largely flat PREM Rugby Cup semi-final clash at Sandy Park.

Saints struggled to get going for long periods, with Litchfield's try that helped to make it 7-7 early on the only real chance to celebrate.

And Litchfield said: "It was very frustrating and it just felt like we were second best in every area really.

"There wasn't a whole bunch of energy or bounce to us so it was difficult to get going.

"First five or 10 minutes, we want to get out of the blocks and put our best foot forward, but we didn't do that, Exeter did, and it was an uphill battle from there.

"It was a tough afternoon."

Saints had travelled to Exeter on the back of four successive bonus-point wins at the end of the pool stages.

But they couldn't go all the way as the Chiefs set up a trip to Leicester Tigers in Sunday's final.

"Overall, it (the PREM Rugby Cup campaign) has been very promising, lots of new faces for the fans to see and lots of talent on show," Litchfield said.

"Overall, it's been a successful campaign for us, but still a bit bitter that we're not getting to the final."

Litchfield looked strong on Sunday as he continued to get back into the groove following the hamstring injury that ruled him out for three months earlier in the campaign.

And now he is setting his sights on playing a prominent role in the key matches to come.

"I had my first game back against Quins a few weeks ago so it's been nice to get some more minutes under the belt," the centre said.

"Hopefully it's stood me in good stead to get back in the PREM team.

"We've got a weekend off now and then we're straight back into it against Newcastle so we want to hit the ground running in the PREM and solidify our position in the top four."