Warren Gatland: Wales must not be architects of own downfall against All Blacks

Warren Gatland's Wales reached the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup

Wales head coach Warren Gatland says his side must stop "shooting themselves in the foot" as they look to end a run of 28 consecutive defeats by New Zealand.

The All Blacks, the world champions, have a decisive 2-0 series lead going into Saturday's final Test in Dunedin.

Wales have pushed Steve Hansen's side hard at times, but have not been able to muster an 80-minute performance.

"We've got to make sure that we're the ones that are accurate," said Gatland.

The tourists began the three-Test series with a 39-21 defeat at Eden Park, before a 36-22 loss in Wellington last weekend.

Gatland says Wales' most recent performance was better than the last time the two sides met in Cardiff in 2014, when New Zealand ran out 34-16 winners, despite Wales leading with 11 minutes remaining.

"We passed the ball over double the number of passes we did in 2014 and we made the All Blacks make double the number of tackles they had to make in 2014. Territory and possession was well up.

"So, from the stats point of view there's some really pleasing numbers there. We've just got to turn those numbers into pressure and stop shooting ourselves in the foot by making some of those costly errors."

Wales led the first Test after an hour in Auckland after tries from Taulupe Faletau and Rhys Webb, only for Hansen's men to score 21 unanswered points.

In the second match, the visitors finished on a high with Liam Williams and Jonathan Davies scoring late on to ensure Wales only lost by 14 points - the narrowest losing margin they have ever achieved against the All Blacks on their own turf.

Wales, without a win over New Zealand since 1953, conceded 19 points in eight second-half minutes at the Westpac Stadium, but Gatland says their defensive errors can be remedied.

"In both games, we seem to have switched off for five or 10 minutes and it's been hugely costly," he said.

"We've looked at the tries from last week that we conceded. Are they fixable? Yes, they are.

"You take out two or three of those tries that we feel are fixable then it is a nip and tuck ball game."

Wales have made two changes to the front row for the final Test with loose-head prop Rob Evans and tight-head Tomas Francis starting.

Gatland says it is an opportunity for Exeter's Francis to shine with first-choice prop Samson Lee, who is on the bench, a bit sore.

"Samson didn't take a huge part in training yesterday, he's got a bit of a stinger in the shoulder, but he's okay so we just think it's a good chance for Tomas to start.

"We wanted to make one or two changes, keep building on those first two Test matches and learn from those experiences of the first two Test matches without making too many changes."