Wales ‘shooting themselves in the foot’ against All Blacks, says coach Warren Gatland
The tourists are seeking to avoid a series whitewash against New Zealand in Dunedin on Saturday after losing 39-21 in Auckland and 36-22 last week in Wellington
Wales coach Warren Gatland has urged his players to “stop shooting themselves in the foot” and cut out the mistakes as they look to avoid a total rout in their three-test series against New Zealand.
The scorelines indicate the tourists were thumped in the first two Tests against the All Blacks but Gatland argues his side were competitive most of the time, but were severely punished for momentary lapses.
Wales go into the third test in Dunedin on Saturday looking for the full 80 minute performance that has eluded them so far on tour, and with Gatland confident they are closing in on the world champions.
He said their recent performances were better than the last time they met in Cardiff two years ago, when Wales led 16-15 with 11 minutes to play and let in three late tries for the All Blacks to record a 34-16 win.
“We made double the number of passes we made in 2014, we made the All Blacks make double the number of tackles they had to make in 2014, territory and possession were well up,” he said.