Wales captain Sam Warburton was "absolutely demoralised" after his side's last gasp defeat by Australia.
Skipper 'gutted' after last gasp penalty denies Wales
Wales captain Sam Warburton was "absolutely demoralised" after his side's last gasp defeat by Australia in Saturday's second Test.
Leading by a single point after 80 minutes, Warburton and his men had looked set to claim victory in Melbourne and level the three-match series.
But the tourists conceded a penalty at the death and Mike Harris slotted the three points with the last kick of the match to snatch a 25-23 victory.
"Speechless," said Warburton. "Absolutely demoralised to come so close. It's tough when they get momentum on the line-out and you have to stop it. Just gutted.
Very physical
"It was very physical. We've showed a lot of character all season, it's just getting that vital win out here.
"I don't think you can get any closer than that to he honest. We have to pick ourselves up for next week."
Wales lost the first match of the series 27-19, but Warburton hopes that they learn from their performance in Melbourne ahead of the third Test next Saturday.
"Now when we do take a lead we've got to capitalise on that and not let Australia back into game," he added.
"We are desperate to get a result out here and this will motivate the boys even more."
Howley looks for positives
Wales caretaker coach Rob Howley also admitted there were positives to take from the performance, but a lack of discipline at the death had cost them.
"We were quite clinical when we had the ball and took our opportunities," he said. "But we just gave them one too many opportunities to get that kick at goal with discipline in certain areas.
"I said to guys they could take great heart from their performance. I thought we defended well, the first half in particular when we needed to. We got off our line very quickly and made our tackles.
"In the second half through our defence we got our try and in just two minutes probably toward the end made a couple of wrong decisions and it's cost us the game.
"We'll be better for that but it's hard to swallow. In international rugby there's a fine margin between winning and losing. For 79 minutes and 20 seconds we've done a lot right."
Pocock credits Wales
Australia captain David Pocock admitted his side had found the going hard saying: "Credit to Wales, that was a tough game out there."
And Wallabies' coach Robbie Deans said his team had showed great composure to secure the win.
"We knew that when we play Wales they're an 80-minute side, they've very much a second-half side," he said.
"Fortunately, the boys had enough composure when they were under the pump at the death to get their hands on the ball one more time, produce some pressure and produce an outcome."
