 Sam Warburton has made his mark at open-side flanker for Wales
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Sam Warburton says Wales must "get this monkey off our back" after losing 34-31 to South Africa on Saturday in Cardiff.
Wales sensed a rare scalp against a Tri-Nations side when they led 16-3 against an under-strength Springboks, but still ended on the losing side.
"Another one... so close but yet so far," said open-side flanker Warburton after winning his seventh Wales cap.
"We always seem to come strong in the last 20 minutes but we just didn't have enough time to pinch the win."
Since Wales beat South Africa in 1999 at the Millennium Stadium - the 29-19 win the only time the men in red have humbled the Springboks - they have managed just two wins and a draw against Tri-Nations sides.
Those rare success have all come against Australia, winning in 2005 and 2008 in Cardiff with a draw in 2006, also at home.
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It is just being clinical and we've got to cut out the mistakes
Wales flanker Sam Warburton
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With Saturday's game labelled as the start of their serious build-up to the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, Wales will now fly out this week to take on the All Blacks in a two-Test series and get an early feel for what awaits them next year.
The hope had been that a morale-boosting win over the Springboks would provide a springboard for what awaits them in New Zealand.
Instead tries from Odwa Ndungane, Dewald Potgieter and South Africa debutant Juan de Jongh, plus the boot of Ruan Pienaar, was enough to hold off a late Wales rally.
"There were some unforced errors in our attack, they turned us over, we gave away a few stupid penalties which brought them back into the game in the first half," Warburton said.
"I guess we say the same things all the time, but it is just being clinical and we've got to cut out the mistakes.
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"We've just got to get this monkey off our back and beat one of these Tri-Nations teams."
Warburton showed up well against a strong Springbok back-row and was on hand to provide the vital support for Alun Wyn Jones' late try that gave Wales the glimmer of a dramatic late win.
The 21-year-old has had to play second-fiddle to Blues colleague Martyn Williams for both club and country at number seven.
But Williams' is being given an enforced rest this June and that opens the door for Warburton to gain valuable experience against the world's best teams.
"Preparation went really well over the last two weeks, so I don't think we can fault the preparation," he said.
"South Africa have got together over here and they've got some players who have been drafted into the squad who haven't been involved for a while, so it was the same for both teams.
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"I think we played some pretty good rugby but it just wasn't good enough in the end.
"This was a game we were definitely targeting a win and at the end of the day we didn't get it.
"We've got a couple of days off now to let the bodies recover and we fly out to New Zealand on Wednesday and hopefully have a big tour out there.
"It was very physical and a lot of things you probably couldn't see going off the ball, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing and it was just disappointing we didn't get the win."
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