Sebastien Chabal says he is still at a loss to explain how France were humiliated 59-16 by Australia in November's Test match, but he believes it is time for the national side to get back to basics.
The Racing-Metro powerhouse played at No.8 in that stunning loss which followed wins over Fiji and Argentina and he admits that he was to blame for the record defeat as much as anyone else.
"To be truthful, I was thinking about it for days afterwards and it is still on my mind, but there are so many other things like the European Cup and the championship, that you just have to focus on playing well for your club," he said.
"We were soundly beaten and we just could not understand how we collapsed like that in the second half - both physically and mentally. But it is useless to go on feeling sorry for ourselves."
Chabal said he agreed with skipper Thierry Dusautoir that an over-charged schedule could have been one factor contributing to the French flop.
"What he said the day after the loss was that perhaps our tactics were too ambitious," he said.
