But it wasn't all doom and gloom with 19-year-old Paddy Jackson proving himself a reliable stand-in for Ian Humphreys, the out-half grabbing a well-taken try in the defeat.
And it is this experience his young players are now getting a taste of that gives McLaughlin hope that they can take one step back but two forward in the coming weeks.
"There were a lot of young guys out there and that will have been an experience for them," he said.
"There are good days and bad days when you play and for most of them so far there have been a lot more good days than bad.
"This will have been a very steep learning experience. When you come to a place like Ospreys, you've got to be squeaky clean with your discipline, organised with the ball, put it in the right areas of the pitch and make sure you put a team like Ospreys under pressure.
"You can't allow yourself to get blown away in and around the contact areas. Those were the areas where we were guilty of under-achieving."
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