Morning:
18°c
Cricket: Brett Lee has been ruled out of the first two Ashes Tests with a side strain - handing England a huge boost ahead of the opening clash
More...
Gatland proud despite defeat
23.11.08
- Ronaldo ready for La Liga challenge
- Lee to miss Ashes opener
- New names, same threat warns KP
- 'Several bidders' meet Ashley price
- New Reds deal for Benayoun
- Terry going nowhere, warns Ancelotti
- IRB charge South Africa over protest
- Second win for Cavendish
- Summit feels good for Federer
- Wigan duo recalled as injuries hit
Wales coach Warren Gatland was proud of his players' performance despite going down 29-9 to New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium.
But he believes Wales must learn to produce an 80 minutes of rugby rather than just a 40-minute performance if they are to beat the best sides in the world.
"For 40 minutes I was pretty happy but New Zealand were able to keep the intensity for the whole 80 minutes," said Gatland. "We brought the best out of the All Blacks which is what we wanted to do."
He added: "They are clearly the best side in the world and I'm pleased that we showed out there that if we can do it for longer periods we are not too far away. We will take a lot of learning from that."
Wales led 9-6 at half-time through three Stephen Jones penalties but a strong second-half showing by the All Blacks left the home side without a win against New Zealand since 1953.
Dan Carter guided New Zealand to victory over the RBS 6 Nations champions with a 19-point haul at the Millennium Stadium.
Carter booted five penalties and converted tries by centre Ma'a Nonu and flanker Jerome Kaino to leave New Zealand needing victory over England next Saturday to complete a successful grand slam tour.
Gatland added: "We are really proud of the first 40 minutes but we couldn't keep it up for the full 80 minutes
"We've had South Africa last week, New Zealand here and Australia next week. You only get better by playing the best teams. We need to improve in terms of the penalties we were giving away and some of the set-pieces .
"If we learn from the sort of things the All Blacks do we are going to improve."
