Wales were forced to hang on at the end of a tense 80 minutes against Georgia before securing a 13-6 win in the second round of the 2017 Under Armour Series. Now they have to prepare to face the world champion All Blacks this weekend.
“They were tough and they dragged us into a set piece battle, particularly in the second half. It was a good learning experience for a lot of our youngsters and they would have gained a lot out of that and will be better for it,” said Gatland.
“We were really pleased with the intent, particularly in the first half, and going out to want to play. There were plenty of opportunities where we could have taken three points, but we kicked for the corner instead.
“In other circumstances, in other games, you would have probably taken the three points and kept the scoreboard ticking over. We went out with the ambition to try and be positive.
“Unfortunately, in the second half it turned into a bit of an arm wrestle. In saying that, though, it was good experience from a defensive point of view.
“I thought we defended exceptionally well with a group of young players and they would have gained a lot from that.”
Hallam Amos made it two tries in as many games this autumn as he raced over for the only try of the game in the first half. He almost got another and fellow wing Alex Cuthbert was held up over the line.
“We were a bit unlucky in a couple of situations. I didn’t feel that the ball went forward off Kristian Dacey when
Rhys Priestland went through and would have been under the posts and we were a bit unlucky with that rip out when Hallam Amos went down the other end,” added Gatland.
“That would have given us a bit of daylight. In attack we probably threw a couple of miss passes where we needed to be a little bit more direct.
“They will hopefully learn from that. The pleasing thing is when they had to dig deep defensively against a team that were trying to grind out a result and they stepped up at the end when it was required.”
