Alex Callender insisted that Wales would come back stronger after they crashed out of the Women’s Rugby World Cup without winning a match.
After suffering heavy losses to Scotland and Canada, they were narrowly beaten by Fiji in a final pool outing to confirm their early exit from the tournament.
It marks something of a backwards step after they escaped the pool stage in 2022, doing so for the first time since 1994.
Callender feels team has far more to offer: "Those three games didn't showcase what we are all about. I'm gutted. I want to apologise to the fans. Thank you so much for sticking with us and believing in us.
"We're in a real tough place but I believe in Sean Lynn, I believe in the team that we've got and I believe in our staff. We can turn this around.”
Her co-captain Kate Williams concurred, saying: “It is a tough loss to take. We are in a tough place at the minute, but I don't doubt the amount of belief and the amount of heart that this team can give.”
Saturday’s thrilling meeting with Fiji went down to the wire, ending 28-25 after a frenetic second half.
Watched from the stands by William, the Prince of Wales, Sean Lynn's side fought back from a 28-10 deficit to take a nerve-jangling Pool B showdown to the final whistle.
The final seconds saw both sides feverishly compete for the ball on the floor close to Fiji's posts, but the Islanders clung to consign Wales to a last-place finish in their group.
A big scoreline was expected in Devon and the Pool B rivals duly delivered with seven tries accumulated between them in the first-half alone.
It took just 81 seconds for outstanding outside centre Carys Cox to get over the line, but Fiji slowly took charge of the match as they showed an ability to find space while possessing the skills to exploit it.
Fiji were proving deadly with the ball in hand as they engineered two more tries for Setaita Railumu and Repeka Adi Tove and their only blemish was a warning from referee Kat Roche for "yelling at them (Wales) in a very inappropriate way" during a brief flashpoint.
Wales were fighting to the end with Carys Cox at the forefront of their second-half resurgence and Lisa Neumann rounded off a stirring passage of play by diving over.
A shot at posts was turned down as Wales needed a try to win and they threw the kitchen sink at a rapidly tiring Fiji, but the crucial score eluded them.
Additional reporting: Press Association
