Colin Charvis praised Wales after they gave New Zealand an almighty scare in Sydney on Sunday.
The Wales skipper scored one of Wales' four tries against the Pool D favourites, who trailed midway through the second half.
"We wanted to do as well as we could and we're very proud that we put in a very good performance and showed our character," Charvis said.
"But we still lost and it was one of those games that we could have played a little bit better, and had a better scoreline in the end.
"We knew that after our first three games we had to step up to perform against the New Zealanders and that's what we aimed for and that's we did.
"We'll be proud of our performance but congratulations to the New Zealanders - they showed their class, especially towards the end the way they were finishing off their tries."
The All Blacks had that extra cutting edge and late tries from Carlos Spencer, Doug Howlett and Aaron Mauger ensure they finished top of the group with a 53-37 win.
New Zealand now face South Africa in the quarter-finals next week in Melbourne, while Wales head to Brisbane and a showdown with the old enemy England.
"We've got another game to build for now, so next week in Brisbane we'll look forward to the English," Charvis added.
Wales coach Steve Hansen echoed his captain in applauding the performance but regretting the defeat.
"I'm very proud, but at the end of the day we didn't win the game," said Hansen.
"But in realistic terms we've got to be very proud of what they did, because we've come a long way in a short period of time.
"The performance was good but at the end of the day we lost and we are looking for performances that enable us to beat the best nations in the world.
"We didn't get a good start but showed a lot of spirit to come back. We ran out of petrol because we're not playing at that intensity week in and week out."
After naming a largely second-string side to face the All Blacks, many expected Wales to be on the end of a thrashing, but they proved far tougher than expected.
"We came to win the game contrary to a lot of critics' opinions," Hansen added.
"The important thing is that we face another top team in seven days and it's going to be very interesting to see if we can back that up."
Wing Shane Williams claimed a try for Wales after being given his first appearance in the World Cup.
The Ospreys player also caught the eye with a string of breaks through the All Black defence and believes that Wales have now answered their critics.
"In a way it worked to our advantage," Williams said. "No one gave us a chance.
"The boys showed heart and strength to stop them. We showed enough passion and pride and we showed the critics."