Wales coach Warren Gatland believes decisions which went against his team proved costly in the 19-12 defeat to New Zealand in Cardiff.
Gatland believes the All Blacks' Dan Carter was fortunate to escape censure following a high tackle on Martin Roberts in the closing stages of the game.
"The frustrating thing from our point of view was not getting some 50-50 calls," he said.
"We're not asking for any favours, you just want some calls to go your way.
"It's trying to change referees' opinions about not wanting to referee an upset - referees don't want to be involved in upsets.
"We've got to keep playing positive rugby and win them over, so you feel like you are getting somewhere."
Asked what else contributed to the defeat, Gatland added on BBC2: "It's about learning to play at the highest level, making sure for 80 minutes that we switch on and nail critical moments.
"There are fine things as a team we hammer in at training but we must carry them into the game and keep developing."
Wales captain Ryan Jones said: "It was a fantastic Test, but we paid the price for a couple of errors in key moments.
"We didn't help ourselves; we were the makers of our own misfortune today - but at 80 minutes we were still in with a chance, and on another day it might have gone our way.
"I'm thoroughly enjoying my rugby again and it's good to be part of a special team.
Stephen Jones, who scored all Wales' points with four penalties, added on BBC2:
"New Zealand are very clinical - they put us under a lot of pressure.
"From our perspective, a few errors allowed them to get on to the front foot. But we have to give them a lot of credit.
"I would love to have played in a game with a bit more width - but New Zealand are
very well-organised defensively.
"We are bitterly disappointed we lost. It's the first game we've played in a long time, but we are going in the right direction.
"We keep improving and raising the bar and hope we'll get there."
Shane Williams added: "It was such a tough game; you don't get many opportunities against New Zealand and you have got to make them count.
"We felt we could win this game today and we came off the field thinking we should have. They're one of best teams in the world, and there's a reason for it."







Comments
IslandPower says...
typical bitch moan cry cry anything to deflect attention from the fact that his team lost.
Posted 04:19 11th November 2009
embassy says...
Yep, well said, how can he and the asst coach say Carter should have been yellow or even RED carded... that is just hot-headed posing to draw the attention away from the LOSS...
Brendon leonard got kicked in the head, and the player wasnt cited - oh yeah, thats a Welsh decision cos it was played in Wales...
Posted 04:55 09th November 2009
ABenzed says...
Gatland is in la la land.... whats he harping on about 50-50 decisions! His team played well enough but just werent good enough to win. The AllBlacks should have scored another 3-4 tries, but only good Welsh defence prevented the score being a blow out really.If this hadnt occurred the score would have been 30 plus points to 12 then Gats moaning wouldnt have occurred at all. He got beaten by a considerably better team on the day, the AB s were quite superior in most facets of the game that count.And created far more scoring opportunities as result of those superiorities.
Wales hung in there and scrambled very well, but the final score didnt reflect the AB superiority..
Posted 02:36 08th November 2009