France boss Fabien Galthie claimed his side lacked energy and were tactically naïve in their loss to Ireland.
The defeat, which brought an end to their 14-match winning streak, sees Les Bleus remain second in the world rankings and also hoping for Ireland to slip up if they are to retain their Guinness Six Nations title with three rounds remaining.
"We were lacking freshness, our kicking game was a bit off and we lacked energy," he told reporters at the Aviva Stadium following the 32-19 reverse.
"It is almost two years since we have lost. It is hard to take.
"The series of wins are there, now it is necessary to learn how to take a defeat.
"Defeat is not really a friend, but we will have to spend the day with her.
"We came to play and win the match. Like every match, we worked hard for it but our adversary beat us. We really needed to keep control territorially."
Ireland, who top the standings on 10 points after two games, scored four tries to France's one.
"We cannot say we gave them two tries," added Galthie, whose team host Scotland in two weeks' time.
"They are good enough to score tries on their own, but certainly we put them into difficult situations.
"However, due to bad tactical decisions we were too exposed.
"Up to the 71st minute we were six points adrift, we were near their line, but we expended too much energy in the first half, we played too often in our own half we should have played higher up the pitch.
"Yes [I have regrets], the fact that our strong spells did not produce enough points.
"When you come away with no points after expending a lot of energy you have to be very strong to stay in the contest, to keep believing, especially against them."
Centre Gael Fickou also conceded that they played too much in the wrong area of the pitch and said Andy Farrell's men were worthy winners.
"It was very tough, they are a team of the highest calibre. We were expecting a huge match and we rose to the occasion in terms of combativity.
"We played too much for my liking in our half, and we were at times a little too exposed.
"They have quality players we were able to catch them on the back foot on several occasions. It was a very complex match, which came down to small differences.
"They did win deservedly, they were better than us. It sure does not put a smile on our faces and we will be obliged to learn the lessons."
