Wayne Pivac insists Wales are heading in the right direction despite suffering two defeats from three matches in the 2020 Guinness Six Nations.
The defending Grand Slam champions followed up their Round 2 loss in Ireland with a 27-23 defeat to France in Cardiff, their first home defeat to Les Bleus since 2010.
Romain Ntamack’s interception try midway through the second half proved decisive for the visitors, who are over halfway to a Grand Slam.
And Pivac believes Wales, who next face England, just need to be more ruthless in the opposition 22 and take the opportunities they are presented.
“We are certainly not going to panic, it is about building and we created a lot of opportunities. Things are heading in the right direction, it’s just about making the most of those opportunities,” he said.
“We need to convert one or two more and we’d be winning games. I am just frustrated with the decisions we made at times out there.
“We don’t like losing. The boys have built up a very proud record and it is disappointing here but we have got to keep building.
“It panned out as we expected. Our line speed in the first half was good. We always talked about taking it deep and at 16-15 the momentum shifted and we were in a good space but it changed with the intercept.
“It was always going to be physical and it was.”
France were quick out of the blocks at Principality Stadium, with full-back Anthony Bouthier and lock Paul Willemse helping them to a 17-9 half-time lead.
Dillon Lewis’ try just after the break reduced the gap to a point before Ntamack picked off a Nick Tompkins pass and sprinted the other way to score for Les Bleus.
Dan Biggar’s try kept Wales in it but they just fell short and Pivac is adamant there are plenty of positives to take.
“I think there were quiet a few key moments in that game. The back-to-back penalties which led to their first two tries were disappointing,” he added.
“We applied a lot of pressure and got back into the game. We had a series of scrums towards the end of the half and I thought we came out well in the second half, which is something we have talked about.
“We got it back to one point and the momentum was with us. I think we scrambled very well and crated some good chances at the end of the game. It showed a lot of character to come back and it gave us an opportunity to steal it at the end.
“Having said that, the French played very well and we have to take that loss on the chin.”
