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 powerhouse forward 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.

"I am not saying that French players do not have the talent and abilities to play that way, but it is always the same problem - we simply do not have the time to work at training on these things.

"You need a lot of time working together and that is the big problem with our French rugby.

"The tactics that the coaching staff employed were perhaps not the best adapted to the time we had available to train for the match."

Turning to the forthcoming Six Nations tournament, Chabal said that he was particularly wary of England, who had impressed him during the November Test series.

"They have a lot of talented players. I know some of them. We will try to win the tournament, but it is going to be tough."

Last year's grand slam winners France open their Six Nations campaign at home to Scotland on February 5.

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