Saturday 14 June 2014 22:09, UK
Warren Gatland admitted his Wales side had been physically dominated by South Africa as they suffered a 38-16 first Test defeat at Kings Park.
Gatland said: "All credit to South Africa. I thought they physically dominated us in the first half and won the collisions. We just struggled a little with the pace and intensity.
"It probably didn't help having Jamie Roberts in the bin - we conceded 14 points while he was off - but I think the game had gone away from us at half time.
"We said at the break that we needed to be much more aggressive off the line defensively and I think it was a much better performance in the second half. Hopefully it will be good for us for next week."
But Gatland did rue his side's failure to score a try with less than a minute on the clock.
Wales had cut South Africa apart, but Liam Williams' final pass to Cuthbert was behind the Cardiff Blues winger and the chance was gone.
"We started really well and had a couple of good opportunities so to miss that chance was very disappointing. But that's rugby.
"South Africa scrambled well and they had big runners off their scrum-half and they dominated the collisions and made it tough for us to get on the front foot. It is something we need to work really hard on this week."
Gatland was full of praise for Le Roux who deservedly earned the man-of-the-match award for a wonderful display.
The Cheetahs' full-back was involved in four of South Africa's tries, and his elusiveness with ball in hand, allied to a clever mix of tactical kicking proved too much for Wales to handle.
"I thought we were very poor defending on the short side, Le Roux was an absolute pest in that respect," said Gatland.
"He as outstanding and caused us a lot of trouble with chips over the top we did not handle. On that performance you would have to say he is one of the best full-backs in the world. He was absolutely superb."
Unsurprisingly, South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer was delighted with his side's performance.
He said: "Wales are a quality side to produce a performance like that was superb. To score five tries to one with a group of guys who have played together was very good. I thought we were awesome in the first half and I am proud to be coach of this team."
