Warren Gatland has admitted Wales are still in the slow lane compared to those pushing the speed limits of international rugby.
The Wales coach is reflecting on a 3-0 series defeat to New Zealand and a personal record against the major southern hemisphere nations of just two victories in 30 Tests.
Gatland long ago mastered the art of guiding Wales to regularly running bigger Six Nations vehicles off the road – such as England and France – but his history against the All Blacks, in particular, is of time spent on the hard shoulder, or at least permanently in their slipstream.
After the 46-6 Third Test defeat in Dunedin on Saturday had left Wales without a victory on their four-match tour, Gatland said: “I thought the big difference was the pace of the All Blacks’ back three.
“They put us under a huge amount of pressure when they were bringing the ball back and we missed a lot of tackles.”
New Zealand were ruthless on the counter-attack, with fly-half Beauden Barrett scoring two tries and finishing with 26 points for the world champions. Barrett, winger Ben Smith and full-back Israel Dagg exploited space and created mis-matches against the forwards as they scored six tries in total.
Gatland added: “Our tackle success rate was well below our usual standards. We came to New Zealand with a different mind-set to evolve our game and be positive in attack. I feel we have done that. But defensively we have been disappointing and have let ourselves down in an area we have traditionally been good at.
“At the end of the day they are the world champions so it was a big lesson for a lot of us in terms of what he learned and what we can apply going forward.
“The players are disappointed and gutted but I’m sure they will be better for this experience.”
Gatland also labelled the All Blacks’ defence as “outstanding” after Wales were repelled numerous times when they were camped on the try-line shortly before half-time with the score at 18-6.
“We needed to score before half-time to stay in the match but they got away from us,” Gatland added. “They defended very well and were very strong at the breakdown and won the collisions.
“They’re not slowing down, they’re accelerating into the contact. And that’s something we need to take back to the northern hemisphere.
“We need to be more dynamic and accelerate into the contact areas whether it’s with or without the ball.”
New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen accepted Wales were starting to feel the effects of a long campaign and believes this game can be written off in the long term.
He said: “It’s a tough time for teams at the end of their season, especially in a World Cup year when they have just gone straight through without a break.
“For Wales, in what was their 17th Test match… maybe some of their guys were already on the plane home.
“They are a better team that that last game. They will regroup and come back stronger for the November Tests and then be a force in the Six Nations.
“But we are happy to win the series 3-0. If anyone had said beforehand that we were going to lose 818 caps and do what we have just done, then I would be happy with that.
“We have got better with each game, we have blooded a lot of new people, we have a new leadership group and a new skipper – all of whom have done really well.
“We are not the finished article yet [but] we have answered a lot of questions that need answered.”
