Barnstorming Welsh second-five Jamie Roberts said Wales' poor finish to the World Cup was a brutal introduction to consistency.While the third-placed match with Australia was billed by many as a 'nothing game', Roberts - who has been one of the players of the tournament - said the disappointment of losing 21-18 to the Wallabies felt was at a similar level to their 9-8 loss to France in their semi-final a week earlier.

"It's one of those games - every time you put on a Welsh shirt there's no doubt all the boys were up for the game. Obviously Australia had to raise the intensity at the start of the game," Roberts said.

"It's such fine lines at this level. A missed tackle here, competing at the ruck when you shouldn't. Those little moments do count."

"The last two weeks have pretty brutal - you saw that rollercoaster of emotions I suppose."

"To go from the elation of the Ireland victory to the last two weeks has been very tough. We just need it to make us stronger - we need to take it on the chin and move forward."

After discussing the negatives of the performance, Roberts said there were positives for his side, encompassed by the huge amount of support his side had found from Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the other side of the world.

"I think we've gone away with a feeling that we can compete with the best in the (World Cup) group and we've got a good mindset that we can take on to the next couple of years," he said.

"If we get things right we'll put teams like this away but we made too many basic errors tonight."

"At the end of the day we haven't beaten a Southern Hemisphere team down here. We spoke about taking the next step and beating a Southern Hemisphere team away."

Wales will not have to wait long before they have a chance to reverse the result, with the European nation touring Australia in a three-test series in June.