Warren Gatland was left to rue a 'lost opportunity' after Wales went down 20-15 to South Africa at the Millennium Stadium.
Victory was there for the taking according to Wales boss
Coach Warren Gatland was left to rue a 'lost opportunity' after Wales missed the chance to secure a famous win against world champions South Africa at the Millennium Stadium.
Wales, who went down 20-15, still have just one victory against the Springboks to their name and Gatland was adamant his side should have won given their domination in territory and possession.
And, after going down by two tries to nil, the Wales boss admitted the failure to convert possession into points cost his side dear.
"It was a lost opportunity, absolutely," conceded Gatland. "We are more than disappointed. It was real Test match - an arm wrestle. We had some chances there and I'm pretty unhappy.
"I have said to the boys that they should be really disappointed because we were the best team out there. We played most of the rugby. We had our chances.
"The next step in the development of this team is to nail those opportunities. The unfortunate thing is that you have to take the pain and learn from your mistakes.
Chance
"I thought we were in the game, we competed well physically, we had 60 per cent of possession and we had more territory. They also had a soft try from an intercept and a couple of soft three-pointers as well.
"I'd like to think from 12 months ago there has been a nice progression from this team.
"We want to compete against the best teams in the world. I thought we did that and had a chance to win it."
Gatland highlighted a poor last few minutes from Wales which could have been the difference between winning and losing.
"There were two line-out turnovers, a scrum turnover and Lee Byrne dropped the ball," said Gatland.
"Big teams in these games they nail those moments. That's the next progression for us. To say I was disappointed was an understatement."
Proud
But Gatland was happy with the perfomances from two new caps Andy Powell and Leigh Halfpenny.
"They did well. It would have been nice if they had a 'W' next to that," he said.
"I thought they gave a real account of themselves. Andy Powell gave us some footwork, some physicality and he's got to be proud of that performance."
Wales captain Ryan Jones looked ahead to matches against Australia and New Zealand and said: "We need to win one of these games. It's about composure during the big moments.
"It's a pretty disappointed changing room. We made too many mistakes for a start against the best team in the world.
"I thought the second half was better but there wasn't enough time to get what we thought we deserved.
"We knew we were capable of more out there but we will take it on the chin and it's an experience we will draw on."
Smit frustration
South Africa captain John Smit felt his team made life difficult for themselves in Cardiff.
He said: "That was a tough day at the office. We made it a lot harder than we should have. When we took our foot of the pedal after the intercept try, I think we thought it was all going to happen for us.
"We went into the wrong frame of mind and defended what was a small lead and made hard work for ourselves. I think we will feel it tomorrow with all that work we had to do in defence.
"It's two tries to zero. Their defence was a frustration because a lot of the rugby we had trained for and prepared for we couldn't enact.
"Their defence was up and on the button and they didn't breach our line. It's three out of three for us this year (against Wales) so I'm pretty happy with that.
"Wales have improved without doubt. The most impressive aspect was their defence. They stopped us from playing and it's certainly an aspect they have worked on."
