Horgan said the loss did not reflect his side's true playing abilities

Coach Patrick Horgan has admitted Wales Under-20's IRB Junior World Championship defeat to South Africa was a game too far for his tired side.

They lost 43-18 to the Springboks on Sunday in the tournament's third-place play-off coming in fourth overall.

"There were a lot of tired legs out there," said Horgan reflecting on the four days recovery time after his side's midweek loss to New Zealand.

He added that the loss did not reflect his side's true qualities.

Following a poor first-half performance Wales were down 26-6 at the break at the game in Swansea's Liberty Stadium.

Three of the four South African tries came as a result of missed Welsh tackles with Horgan admitting that it left his fatigued side with too much to do in the second-half.

606: DEBATE What do you think about the Wales Under-20 performance over the tournament?

Wales were without Blues Academy back-rower Sam Warburton and Ospreys young fly-half Dan Biggar for the game and Horgan added that their absence was a telling factor.

"We left ourselves too much to do at half-time," he explained. "Three missed tackles and South Africa were really clinical first half.

"We've picked up quite a few knocks throughout this tournament and the boys were struggling to recover from it.

"Saying that, I don't really think it's a true reflection of what my group are capable of just a strength-in-depth issue.

"From a rugby point of view maybe we haven't hit the heights I would have liked.

"In patches we have and in certain elements of the game we haven't but from a behaviour and a personal point of view - I think they are a wonderful bunch of lads."