Captain Sam Warburton hailed the defensive effort of his Wales side after they held off Ireland to blow the Six Nations title race wide open in Cardiff on Saturday.
Wales secured a 23-16 victory to end Ireland’s Grand Slam aspirations thanks to a try from replacement Scott Williams, a drop goal from Dan Biggar and five penalties from Leigh Halfpenny.
Ireland, meanwhile, registered a penalty try and 11 points from the boot of Johnny Sexton but could not mark captain Paul O’Connell’s 100th cap with a win.
The home side had to stave off several periods of sustained second-half pressure to secure the win, including a passage of play where they kept out 46 phases of Irish attack.
Flanker Warburton, who led his country for a record 34th time, admitted those spells had pushed his side to their limits of endurance, but was delighted to cling on.
“That win was as satisfying as beating South Africa in the autumn, England in 2013 and Ireland in the World Cup quarter-final, because this Ireland team are that good.
“They are third in the world rankings and chasing a Grand Slam so we knew it was going to take one of our best performances to win.”
“We had to make that many tackles because Ireland kept the ball extremely well and just kept coming. It’s probably the most exhausted I have ever felt after a Test match. But I couldn’t have asked for more from the guys.”
However, the win came at a high cost for Wales, who lost props Samson Lee and Gethin Jenkins to injury, while Richard Hibbard suffered a concussion.
Lee’s injury is the more serious of the three, after hurting his Achilles in a collapsed scrum just a dozen minutes into the contest, while Jenkins pulled his hamstring.
It is a situation which could leave Gatland with a front-row selection headache when his side go in search of a third title in four years in Rome next weekend.
“My initial thoughts for next week are not great. I’m not a medic but it doesn’t look good,” said Gatland.
“Hopefully for Samson it’s not a full rupture of the Achilles which potentially is long term and could impact on World Cup stuff.
“We need to get him checked out and then we can start trying to get him right again.
“Gethin will probably miss next week and Richard Hibbard will have to go through concussion protocols to play.”
Ireland remain firmly in the title picture as they eye back-to-back Championship triumphs for the first time since 1948 and 1949.
But head coach Joe Schmidt was adamant his side cannot afford to start thinking too much about their final points difference when they face Scotland at Murrayfield.
“It is a bit similar to last year where we played last and knew we just needed a result in Paris,” said the former Leinster coach.
“We managed to do that while England sat and watched.
“But, first things first, you have to win those games. You cannot go anywhere in this championship and go chasing points because you will come unstuck.
“Scotland nearly beat Wales, and now Wales have beaten us, so they will be difficult to beat.”