But the Wales head coach expects a character-defining reaction against the world champion Springboks in the final Autumn Nations Series match at Principality Stadium on Saturday (Kick-off 5.40pm).
“When you’re involved in professional sport, those are the challenges that define you as an individual. When you get out in that arena, you’ve got a lot of people looking at you,” said Gatland.
“It’s how you front up to the challenge. You can bury your head in the sand, walk away or you can roll up your sleeves and block out the white noise.
“Hopefully, we’ll put on an improved performance that shows some character against the world champions. Sometimes it can be easier when you’re playing against the best team in the world to do that.
“We weren’t good enough against Australia and that performance hurts. We didn’t start off great, we conceded some points, but then got back into it and showed some courage.
“To concede 21 points when a man up wasn’t good enough. It does hurt and it’s something that doesn’t usually happen.
“Maybe we forced things a little bit, tried to overplay, and maybe made some errors. We lost four or five line-outs on the trot when we turned the ball over.
“We didn’t start as well as last week, but shifted the momentum and got back into the game. There were a couple of maul tries and our maul defence has normally been pretty strong.
“Then they scored off a loose ball and an intercept – it was disappointing. Even when it was 30-13, if we’d scored then I thought there was still a chance.”
The Springboks arrive in Cardiff having beaten England and Scotland so far this autumn.
“I do this job because I love being involved in the game. I have so many good memories of my time in Wales and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved in the past, particularly in terms of World Cups,” added Gatland.
“It’s challenging at the moment. I’m only human, so I ask myself if it’s the right thing to do, but I’m happy doing it.
“I absolutely still have the fight, so you’ve got to dig in and show some mental toughness. I care massively about Welsh rugby, the people, the friends I’ve made and the future of the game.
“I can’t question the effort and the work the boys have put in. You can get beaten by a better team on the day when you’ve given everything you’ve got, but we’ve probably let ourselves down.
“There were times in that game when we needed to keep a cool head and we doubled up on errors and compounded pressure on us. We need to be better at that.
“The boys will be as disappointed. It’s probably about using the experience to review as honestly as we can so that we definitely learn from it.
“The Welsh public have been brilliant with the support they’ve given us over the years. We probably let them down a little bit. So we need to go out next week and make amends by putting in a performance they can be proud of.”
