WALES captain Luke Charteris labelled their performance against the Chiefs as unacceptable after their six-try drubbing in Hamilton.

Warren Gatland’s men hoped to be heading to Wellington for the second Test after a midweek pick-me-up but instead they will try to upset the world champions on the back of a 40-7 battering.

Lock Charteris was one of the players trying to force their way into the XV that lost to the All Blacks 39-21 in Auckland but nobody enhanced their reputation on a chastening evening in Waikato.

“We’re bitterly disappointed but you’ve got to give massive credit to the Chiefs, they came with so much passion in that first half,” said the Bath-bound former Newport Gwent Dragons captain.

“We tried to match it but unfortunately they won the battle of the gain line, won the breakdown and they were really clinical.

“We let ourselves down. We didn’t match them in the tackle or with our line speed. Massive credit to them, they thoroughly deserved their win.

“It’s frustrating because we knew what was coming, we knew what to expect and talked about it beforehand.

“There are no excuses, they just gave us a lesson today and that’s a tough lesson to take.

“We’ve got to have a look at ourselves because it is not acceptable to lose by that sort of margin. They’re a very good team but we’ve let ourselves down.”