Returning France captain Gregory Alldritt on Friday said he was the only one to blame after being dropped by coach Fabien Galthie for last weekend's humbling loss to South Africa.
The No 8 is back in the side for Saturday's clash with Fiji in Bordeaux after he was left out against the world champions by Galthie, who preferred Mickael Guillard at the base of the scrum.
Former international scrumhalf Galthie said that part of his thinking was about adding depth in the position, with an eye on the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Guillard was injured and ruled out of the Autumn Nations Series game with Fiji, opening the door for Alldritt to lead the team with previous skipper Gael Fickou rested.
"The coaching staff explained it very clearly and I understood, the person primarily at fault in this story is me," Alldritt told reporters.
"I wasn't necessarily playing the best in certain games at the start of October, so the only person I blamed was myself."
Alldritt added: "The staff explained it to me clearly, and when it's done that way, you can only take it well and question yourself."
Alldritt captained Les Bleus in their Six Nations-clinching win over Scotland in March after superstar scrum-half Antoine Dupont was injured in the previous game against Ireland.
Alldritt then made a rusty start to the new French Top 14 season with La Rochelle.
