New Zealand captain Beauden Barrett said Wales were like a "brick wall" and coach Dave Rennie credited them as the "better side" after the All Blacks suffered their first defeat to Wales since 1953.
Wales won on a historic day in Cardiff, with the All Blacks never ahead following Tomos Williams' first-minute try. It was a remarkable performance from Steve Tandy's side in the Welsh capital.
All Blacks Admit Second-Best
Afterwards, the All Blacks were typically dignified in defeat, admitting they were ultimately second-best. Barrett, captaining his country on his 149th cap, was brutally honest in his assessment.
"It's a tough one to take, particularly when we were building pressure and couldn't convert," said the full-back. "We were held up a lot of times.
"It's frustrating. It felt like a brick wall at times. You've got to give them credit.
"You give them the crowd the chance to come in. That's why it's one of the best places in the world to play."
Missed Opportunities Identified
The All Blacks would have moved to the top of the world rankings with victory, but instead were left reeling after being on the wrong side of one of rugby's most remarkable results.
"We had a good enough side on the field to win, and if you look at the stats we had plenty of opportunities and the guys created a lot of chances," said Rennie.
"We just weren't clinical enough and they were very good defensively.
"I have no regret around the side that we picked, as I've talked about previously there is really good competition for places. There's not a lot between certain positions."
He added: "It hurts, but you've got to take it on the chin," said Rennie, who took over from Scott Robertson at the start of the year.
"We weren't good enough, Wales were passionate and every time they kept us out they grew and became harder to break down.
"We've got to be better, we expect a lot more of ourselves and I need to see a response at Twickenham."
Fatal Flaw in Attack
Rennie had praised Wales' team in the week, noting how his former defence coach at Kobe Steelers, Peter Murchie, was starting to make an impact with Wales.
He identified New Zealand's inability to take their chances against the Welsh rearguard action as their fatal flaw.
"I'm massively disappointed," he said, reflecting on the match. "We started both halves poorly, conceded 14 points quickly. I just thought we were a little bit disconnected. In the end we had plenty of possession, plenty of territory and plenty of opportunity to squeeze them up to pick them off.
"We need to be a lot better than that but you give credit to Wales you know they were really clinical and they got their chances and then they defended for massive amounts of periods and they were the better side.
"We created opportunities. I thought we got a bit one-dimensional. There were times where maybe we could have just stayed on one side of the field and played through them, where we had good numbers and we'd play away from that.
"We got a bit one dimensional, so we're trying to carry through them when we've actually squeezed them up and now it's a chance to pick them off."
