Gatland positive in defeat

Wales coach Warren Gatland was still looking on the bright side after his team's 21-18 defeat by Australia in the Bronze Final at Eden Park on Friday.

The loss meant Wales failed to match their best performance at a Rugby World Cup, their third-place finish in the inaugural tournament in 1987 when they beat the Wallabies 22-21 in Rotorua in a play-off.

"We've got to look at the disappointment of not finishing third or reaching the Final," Gatland said. "But there are a lot of positives to take out of this tournament. We've brought a lot of young players through.

"We've just got to keep looking to improve. We only lost 21-18 to one of the best sides in the world. So there are a lot of positives in that."

Gatland said his team paid the price for some wayward goalkicking.

Better team

"We missed one or two easy ones and James O'Connor has kicked pretty well. That's probably been the difference."

Captain Gethin Jenkins also conceded the Welsh had been beaten by a better team on the night.

"We came up against a very good team tonight. We didn't come out of the blocks firing and they took advantage of that.

"We've enjoyed our rugby out here. It's just a shame we've had these two close losses in the last couple of weeks."

Attacking rugby

Number 8 Ryan Jones could not hide his disappointment at bowing out on a losing note, though he too said the team could take pride in reaching the semi-finals playing bold, attacking rugby.

"We are really down. We thought we could beat them and do something special. We really wanted to finish with a medal.

"It is quite tough at the moment. We prepared really well for this match and hoped to leave with the third-place medal. But it has been a good tournament and we put Wales back on the rugby map.

"There is a reason why we haven't made that step up. We have to find out what it is. We came here with players who we didn't know if they could play at this level, but we can be proud of what we have done."