Gatland praises All Blacks pack

British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland has praised the performance of the All Blacks forwards in his side's 30-15 loss on Saturday.

The All Blacks nullified the Lions' line speed on defence with direct running from their forwards in particular Jerome Kaino, Brodie Rettalick and Kieran Read.

Gatland was impressed with how physical the All Blacks were up front and their aggression at the breakdown, according to the Irish Times.

“I thought they played very well up front,” Gatland said of the All Blacks.

“They did a good job at stopping our line speed. They came really hard off nine, got some front foot ball and were very aggressive at the breakdown.

“We spoke about them potentially trying to slow our line speed down by kicking in behind us a bit more. They came really hard off nine too, very effectively. We’ve just got to make sure we’re better at stopping the momentum they create off nine.

"They didn’t throw the ball around. In fairness to them they were very physical up front. And you’ve got to give credit to them.”

Meanwhile, Gatland also lamented his side's inability to convert their chances.

"I thought we created some great chances, played some lovely rugby and scored some nice tries. There were a couple of golden moments that we could have taken and then we just switched off when they caught us on a quick tap.

“Elliot Daly said he got caught in no-man’s lands. From a kick the ball’s gone through Liam Williams’ hands. That’s fixable. And a scrum advantage where we missed a first-up tackle. The All Blacks haven’t played champagne rugby and thrown the ball all over the place. So we need to fix those things for next week.

“We’d come under a bit of pressure in the first half, but if we’d scored after half-time that’s 13-13. That’s an interesting take on the game.”