Theo Bevacqua believes Wales under-20 can be proud of the character they showed in the second half of their defeat to Ireland on Friday.
The hosts went into the interval with a 31-7 lead in Cork, but an improved performance from Gareth Williams' side saw the deficit cut to 36-22 by full time.
Cardiff Blues academy member, Bevacqua, who made his first start for Wales under-20 in Cork, says his side can take confidence from their display after the break as they gear up to take on France in a fortnight.
"It was tough. In the first half, we didn’t manage to get a hold of the momentum," said the prop.
"In the week, we’d looked at our forward momentum and getting around the corner but that early try didn’t help us and at this level momentum is everything.
"They stuck to it in the first half. To the credit of the boys, we regrouped at half time and momentum started to come our way.
"There were just a few things that we couldn’t pick off in the last 20 minutes which was unfortunate.
"But unfortunately, we left ourselves with too much to do after that first half.
"It probably summed up the day when we were putting pressure on them by charging down kicks when they were trying to exit. But there was a little touch of the finger which would give a line-out their way, and that summed it up for us.
"We’ll obviously have work-ons, but one of the good things to come out of the game is how we came out for the second half, put in a good performance and getting a hold of that momentum."