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England's demolition of the Australia scrum in the first Cook Cup Test was a lesson of massive proportions for the raw Wallaby front row.
But among the carnage, Western Force captain Nathan Sharpe, who packed in behind a trio that was dismantled at almost every contact, did manage to find some solace.
"You love getting lessons when you win," he said after the courageous 27-17 victory at Subiaco Oval on Saturday night.
Sharpe, who has taken his sensational Super 14 form into the Test arena, described England's superiority as a baptism of fire for the young Australian front row.
"It was a very steep learning curve but they'll adapt very quickly," he said. "They dug deep, they stuck in there and that tells me something about the ticker of the guys.
"Sure we were under pressure but there was no time when the guys capitulated."
It was always going to be a big gamble picking a front row with just two Test appearances against an England trio with 80 caps. Nine scrum penalties and two penalty tries demonstrated the chasm between the two sides.
Australia can expect much the same one-way traffic in Saturday's second Test in Sydney, but coach Robbie Deans is unlikely to call up any old heads like Matt Dunning or Al Baxter to bolster his front row stocks.
For starters, it would send out the wrong message to the young players he is blooding for next year's World Cup.
"Pretty good considering what was asked of them physically and the courage they had to show, and obviously from being on the receiving end at scrum time," was how Deans described the front row.
"They didn't go into their shells. They kept coming physically in defence and also had the courage to play when they got their opportunity. You can't underestimate that.
"I'll wait and see how we want to approach next week, but I'm sure they will look to put a lot of pressure on in that area again.
"Our group will be a lot better for that, and they will come out of that with a much better understanding.
"We certainly wasted a few opportunities, but you have to give credit to the English defence. You don't generally get that many opportunities in a Test match so on another day that could bite us."
The pack may have major problems but even with its power base, England could not get over Australia's slick attacking flair across the field.
Their defence was exceptional, particularly when England tried to bully their way over the line as the first half drew to a close and again when the Wallaby pack was reduced to seven men after the sin-binning of Salesi Ma'afu.
"Our defence in general play was very, very good. England ground away in our 22 and we knew that's how they would play close to our try line and there was a lot of courage shown by our guys," Sharpe said.
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