Warren Gatland: 'First-half display in England defeat unacceptable'

Warren Gatland has confessed that he was left "very disappointed" by Wales's slow start against England that has cost his side a chance of tasting Six Nations glory.

The Red Dragons made a real contest of it late on at Twickenham courtesy of two tries in the final six minutes, but it proved to be too little too late as they succumbed to a 25-21 defeat.

England boasted a 16-0 lead at the interval, and Gatland admitted after the game that he even considered making changes as early as a quarter of the way through the match.

"I sent a message on at 25 minutes asking if we needed to get some fresh legs out there," he told BBC Sport. "It was a very poor first half by us. At this level that's just not acceptable from us, so I'm very disappointed.

"Only the players can answer the question why they were so flat or lethargic in the first half. There was so much to play for, so much on the line, and unfortunately we didn't turn up in the first 40 minutes."

England are now heavy favourites to claim Grand Slam success, with victory over France in Paris next weekend required to get over the mark.