Phillips: Shows dejection at end

Wales led 16-10 in the final quarter but a try from Francois Hougaard put the Springboks back in control.

Fly-half Rhys Priestland missed a drop goal in front of the posts and James Hook sent a more difficult penalty attempt wide.

Gatland said: "I'm proud of the effort the players put in but we didn't win the game.

"We put ourselves in with a chance to win but I think we weren't quite good enough.

"The players will be devastated but we had a chance - a drop goal in front of the posts, Hooky had a penalty.

"It's all about competing at the highest level and that's just the little half a percent we've got to learn from."

"We're bitterly disappointed," James Hook added on ITV1.

"We came so close. We were quite confident all week but we came up just short."

He added: "We played really well and we didn't quite get the victory and in a tournament like this, it's all about getting the win."

Hook contributed 11 points with his boot but the eye-catching Welsh performance came from Toby Faletau who scored their only try.

"Toby's a fantastic player - he's only 20 years old but he's just getting better and better," Hook said.