England's Rugby World Cup-winning hooker Steve Thompson has damned the Wallabies' young front row with faint praise and left coach Robbie Deans incredulous at the suggestion his youngsters were bending the rules.

Rookie props Ben Daley and Salesi Ma'afu and hooker Saia Faingaa had played just five Tests between them and were given a working over by a far more experienced English scrum in the first Test in Perth.

The Wallabies conceded several scrum penalties in that game and were frequently pushed backwards.

While they had the odd shaky moment in the second Test in Sydney, the young frontrowers clearly performed better and even wheeled the English scrum on one occasion.

Veteran Thompson, who has played in all three of England's wins over the Wallabies in Australia, said his opponents had definitely improved over the week.

"They weren't doing exactly what we thought they were going to do but fair play to them, they stuck in there and however they done it, it might not be by the rules,...they got away with it," Thompson told reporters.

Pressed on what he thought the Wallabies were getting away with Thompson said: "Sometimes taking it (the scrum) down, things like that.

"They are young lads and are just starting off their international career and they really showed that they can change things around in a week."

Deans was taken aback by Thompson's suggestion his rookies had resorted to rule breaking.

"You can't be serious," was the immediate reaction.

When journalists confirmed Thompson's statements a droll Deans said: "We'll he (Thompson) would know."

The Wallabies' coach nominated their scrum as one of the few plus points to come out of Australia's 21-20 loss at ANZ Stadium.

Skipper and flanker Rocky Elsom said his frontrowers had responded reasonably well.

"There's a hell of a lot of pressure there, it wasn't perfect, but you would say it was better," Elsom said of the Australian scrum.

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