Wales fell to a third defeat in the Six Nations as they came up short against England in a spirited display that ultimately lacked much-needed quality.
Here's everything Warren Gatland said...
How do you balance consolation between performance and frustration at not kicking on in second half?
"We can be critical of ourselves in terms of us creating a lot of problems for ourselves in not being accurate in key critical moments. That's what Test match rugby is about, staying in that arm wrestle and to stay in that fight is about being accurate.
"We have spoken about being hard on ourselves in areas we need to improve on. I was pleased, I thought there were a number of improvements in that performance but there is still a lot of work for us to do."
SIGN UP: Get the latest Welsh rugby stories delivered straight to your inbox with our free newsletter
How do you feel the new-look backline went?
"I thought Joe Hawkins went well and Mason for his first cap. We defended well at times, we probably need to create a bit more width on attack and that is something we need to work on."
Did the events in the week take their toll?
"We weren't making any excuses for what happened in the week. Getting up for an England Wales game is not difficult. The week was challenging, we realise and understand that but we were not making any excuses."
Facing Italy in Rome will likely be the Wooden Spoon decider. What improvements do you need to make for that one?
"I have spoken about them already in case of us trying to control the things we have been able to do in critical moments whether it being nailing a lineout or a ball going to ground from a pass with those sorts of things in our control. We have a little bit of contact stuff we can tidy up in the 22 and just creating a bit more on attack.
"We do a lot of work in terms of receiving kicks and we have put a couple down or knocked them on which has allowed them to shift the momentum. There are a lot of things we were happy with and we have improved on. We came into half-time thinking we were in this game.
"I said to Ken, let's stay in the arm wrestle. We are not quite there yet but I thought we are going in the right direction.
There were two big moments before half-time where you could have scored in the 22, only to give away penalties. Did it feel like momentum swung back?
"That's kind of been our Achilles heel at the moment. Talking about being accurate and clinical in the opposition 22.
"And we are exposing the ball and allowing the opposition to get on it. I thought one of them was unlucky where there were hands on the ground.
"We didn't get too many penalties from breakdowns and a couple against us. I am not being critical of the referee, it is just the way it is and we just need to be a little bit more accurate and patient in that area and make sure we focus on securing the ball.
"Ultimately you want to come away with points whether it be three or seven, particularly in a game against England where you are it is going to be tight and making sure you make the most of those opportunities."
What can we expect from the team for Rome with changes having been made in previous games?
"We have looked at a few players. It is all very well saying that but you need also a little bit of continuity as well in selection.
"We wanted to find out a bit about players within the squad and we kind of feel having done that in games and training we are now thinking about cohesion as much as anything going forward, particularly for the Italy game which becomes pretty important."
How did you rate the Wales players? Leave your marks below
Should you have mixed up the attacking game rather just kicking constantly to Freddie Steward?
“I think he was good in the air. I thought, apart from a couple, Leigh Halfpenny did a good job too. We did speak about mixing it up in the second half. We had a cross-field kick where it didn’t go to him.
"He doesn’t traditionally go where normal full-backs go. He takes up that winger’s role from a box-kick scenario. He was excellent. It’s an area we do a lot of work on and keep practising.
"We had some kicks where we retained the ball. It can be a massive opportunity when you receive your own kick. They did it too and created opportunities. He was pretty good.”
Will the attack come good with time?
“I think that some of that transition stuff, we can probably get more width in the game with scanning and working hard with everyone on the same page, particularly in the opposition 22.
"Having looked back at some clips during the game, there’s examples where if someone had squared up a little and not got lateral, it might have created more space. Those are the sorts of things we need to keep replicating in training to get more accurate.
"I didn’t feel England particularly stressed us in attack. (Kyle) Sinckler’s try came from players overcommitting to the breakdown. Their first try came from a set-piece scrum where, for us, it was a bit disappointing as a few players’ roles could have been a bit different in looking to stop that.”
After three defeats, is the Italy match more important than ever?
“Last thing you want to do is get the Wooden Spoon. That’s got to be our focus from that. Part of this Six Nations is about us thinking about the next six or seven months.
"We’ve got older players still holding their hands up and some younger players who need some time. We’ve not got that group in the middle who have 30 or so caps. We’ve got to marry the two together and start thinking about that going forward.
"Some of those youngsters need to be given more time together. You can’t coach experience. That was part of the conversation I had with Joe Hawkins in the week.
"He wasn’t particularly happy with parts of his game against Scotland, but I thought he had a good game today and improved from us giving him the confidence to go out there and play. He’s a player I think will continue to get better and better, but he needs more time in the middle.”
Is this a bigger rebuild than you first thought when taking the job again?
“There’s definitely some things that we need to work hard on. It’s probably when a team is going well and playing with confidence and winning, it’s the big moments you nail. Like a critical lineout or going into the 22 and getting points. We’re not miles away, but if you look at the game, we’ve had a lineout that’s a big moment and we have an overthrow or a turnover in the 22.
"It’s frustrating and it’s hurting us. It’s not the opposition hurting us. We’re hurting ourselves. We’ve got to keep working with the intensity that we’re trying to create in training so that our decision-making under pressure improves going forward. We saw again tonight that it’s an area we need to get better at because those critical moments proved costly for us.”
Are you confident you can peak at the World Cup?
“I know that the best thing about a World Cup is the amount of time you have together. When we get to the World Cup, the hard work we’ll have put in and the improvement we’ll get in terms of strength, power and fitness will have a big impact on the performance of this side moving forward.”
Read more:
Wales v England player ratings as half-backs struggle and Gatland favourite under pressure
The reasons Wales lost to England amid kicking mess and lack of power
England star taken aback by poor Cardiff atmosphere as incredulous Jiffy loses it
Grinning Wayne Pivac digs back at Warren Gatland in live Wales v England appearance
