Wales head coach Warren Gatland has hinted at repercussions for Rugby World Cup selection after his side’s performance in the defeat to England.
Gatland’s charges slumped to a 19-17 loss to England, who were down to 12 men at one stage during the second half.
The TMO bunker upgraded Owen Farrell’s yellow card to a red, during which time England full-back Freddie Steward and prop Ellis Genge sat in the sin bin.
Wales were leading 17-6, but against the odds, Maro Itoje scored a try that would seal the come-from-behind victory.
“I’m furious”
After the match, Gatland did not mince his words.
“I’m furious we didn’t win the game, but it answered a few questions for us about certain individuals,” the Wales head coach said.
“The game management in that final quarter wasn’t good enough. We should have been comfortable.
“It was a big moment not taking the kick-off and giving England back a bit of momentum by not clearing our line, allowing them to score from that and get back into the game. That was disappointing.”
Gatland continued: “We capitulated in terms of our accuracy and with some guys not knowing their roles. For me, that was disappointing because we’ve spent a lot of time ensuring there is clarity and everyone knows their roles.
“We gave away some soft penalties where we piggy-backed them up the field and gave them those chances. We’ll have learnt a lot from that.”
Wales’ inability to close out the game meant that they failed to secure their first win at Twickenham since 2015.
The defeat came off the back of a solid 20-9 victory against England at Cardiff.
One final hit out
Gatland has one last warm-up match to finalise his squad for the Rugby World Cup, and the Wales boss said he couldn’t have asked for a sterner Test to make his mind up.
Wales will front up against the Springboks at the Principality Stadium just two days before he unveils his 33-man squad.
“There are still some players we need to find out about and potentially give an opportunity to,” Gatland added.
“You couldn’t ask for better warm-up matches in terms of the physicality we are looking for, with England home and away and then South Africa.
“It’s going to be the same sort of test up-front against South Africa, and we need to take the learnings from Twickenham.”
Wales kick off their Rugby World Cup campaign next month against Fiji.
READ MORE: Rugby World Cup warm-ups: Five things we learnt from Saturday’s matches
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