Dan Biggar holds his head in his hands after missing a last-gasp drop goal attempt © Getty Images

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Warren Gatland said Wales could have made better decisions at the death during their 31-30 defeat by South Africa on Saturday.

Gatland was disappointed by his side's failure to capitalise on a scrum before the hooter after South Africa had nosed in front with a last-minute penalty. Fly-half Dan Biggar's attempted drop goal was off-target as Wales were denied a famous victory by a determined Springbok side.

"We had crucial scrum with a few minutes to go," said Gatland. "Those are the critical moments and you have to be 100% accurate.

"I don't think we got the last kick right. Mike Phillips made a bit of a break and we needed to get our backs on the right side of the field.

"Dan [Biggar] had already missed the first one from 40m and he missed the next one from 50m. We must make sure when those opportunities come along we have to be accurate."

But Gatland also acknowledged a great improvement from his side after their 38-16 drubbing in the first Test last weekend.

"We said we were poor in the first half last week and we worked really hard to put that right since," added Gatland. "It's a big improvement in terms of the way we played and scored some really good tries. I'm proud of the effort but gutted about the result."

Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones echoed his coach's words and said Saturday's performance was a warning shot aimed at their World Cup rivals.

"We are 15 to 16 months out from the World Cup," Jones said. "Hopefully, this will send a bit of a flare up into the sky to say we are still here and hopefully we can be contenders.

"We wanted to show the fans that were not out here on a jolly. We wanted to put a good performance on. We have had a long week and after last week we wanted to play the next day."