players in Wales' final RWC warm-up, Wales lost Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb to injury. Despite many injuries before and during the World Cup, Gatland guided the team out of the "pool of death", with victories over Uruguay 54–9, England 28–25 and Fiji 23–13. They played South Africa in the quarter final, and with 5 minutes to go, Wales were leading 19–18, but a try to Springbok captain and scrum half Fourie du Preez, saw South Africa claim a 23–19 win. During the 2016 Six Nations Championship, Gatland led Wales to second with 7 points, 3 points behind victors England. The Championship started with a 16–all draw against Ireland in Dublin, before Wales went on to secure a 27–23 victory over Scotland in Cardiff. They backed up the Scottish victory with a 19–10 win over the French, before going down to England 25–21. At one point in that match, Wales were down 19–0, but scored three tries in the second half to come with in 4 points of the victory. In the final match, Wales earned their biggest winning margin in a six nations match, winning by 53 points in a 67–14 victory over Italy. In June 2016, Gatland took Wales on a three-test series against the world champions New Zealand. The All Blacks were without many of their World Cup winning side, with Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Keven Mealamu, Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith all retiring. The first test saw Wales put up a convincing display, leading the World Champions 18–15 at half time. However, Wales dropped off after the 60th minute, conceding three tries to lose the game 39–21. Wales then went down to Super Rugby side the Chiefs, 40–7 in a mid-week match. In the second test, the teams were level after 40 minutes 10–all, but 26 unanswered points in the second half, including 4 tries with in 15 minutes saw the All Blacks secure the series after winning 36–22. The final test saw New Zealand clinch the series 3–0, winning 46–6. Following a sabbatical from Wales due to his 2017 British and Lions commitments, Gatland led Wales to 2 victories in four matches during the 2017 Autumn Internationals, defeating Georgia in the countries first ever meeting, 13–6, and South Africa 24–22. Their defeats came at the hand of Australia 29–21 and New Zealand 33–18. In the buildup to the 2018 Six Nations Championship, Gatland stated that