Gatland unhappy with wasteful Wales
Warren Gatland wants Wales to be more clinical
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Saturday, 08, Nov 2008 08:47
A brutally honest Warren Gatland admitted Wales' failure to "handle pressure" cost them victory against world champions South Africa.
The Wales coach saw his fight their way back from 20-3 down to 20-15 and they dominated the last quarter of the game, but were unable to find the crucial try which would have given them a famous win.
"It's a painful experience we went through because good teams handle pressure and they convert situations into points and we've got to learn from that," said Gatland.
"But I'm really proud of the performance and we know we're not too far away. I've had a real go at the players in the changing rooms and said that if we want to be where we think we can be, good teams nail big moments."
South Africa looked to be cruising to an easy win as they established a 17 point lead through tries from Adrian Jacobs and Jean de Villiers and ten points from the boot of Ruan Pienaar. But the Welsh were spurred on by 74,000 fans at the Millennium Stadium and James Hook kicked four penalties to bring them back in the game.
The Welsh had an excellent chance to win the game as they won a line-out deep in South African territory. But they were unable to take advantage of the situation as Juan Smith superbly stole the ball.
"Our scrum, lineout and kicking could have been better but when you get the opportunities, you've got to take it. We should be furious with that because we had a chance to beat the world champions and we let ourselves down. We've got to be more clinical," added Gatland.
"We need to have the confidence and self-belief to handle the big moments and that's the progress this side needs to make."