The Caveman, Seabass or whatever he is called has had a rollicking time during his short stay in Australia, punctuated by giggling fits as one of his French teammates valiantly attempted to explain that he didn't actually want to pull down Lote Tuqiri's pants.

Sebastien Chabal, the French team's most familiar figure, took delight at the headline in the Herald last week that suggested new winger Alexis Palisson had no fear of confronting the great Tuqiri.

This gave the French team, and Chabal in particular, plenty of ammunition, and suddenly the Test newcomer was the butt of endless gags.

The huge French second-rower began to laugh when he told the Herald yesterday: "We made quite a lot of jokes about it. We were saying to Alexis, 'You have to be very, very careful. Lote is bigger than you. He will smash you'." Palisson had nowhere to hide.

"They were telling me Lote was very upset," he said yesterday. "And they compared him with me. Pffft." Palisson raised his eyebrows, shook his head and added: "But I did not say that. I didn't say that I wanted to pull his pants down."

Yeah, yeah, we know.

But the French pants man was at least able to show up his illustrious opponent during a spectacular Test debut in which he easily ran around Tuqiri before pushing the play deep into the Australian quarter with a chip kick. In the second half, he scored France's solitary try.

And this week, Palisson was not going to provide any Les strides stories.

When asked if he knew anything about his new opponent, Lachie Turner, whom he will confront in Brisbane on Saturday night, Palisson replied: "No."

He was then probed about whether he had ever heard of former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons, who in the dim past played at his French club, Brive: "Pffft. I wasn't even born."

Chabal just loves Palisson's attitude, and believes it is shared by his young teammates. And he says that's why France will worry the Wallabies on Saturday night.

"All the young boys in this team are quite relaxed," Chabal said. "And that's good before a game, because it shows they just enjoy playing.

"They're not getting hung up about anything. We saw that with Alexis last week … well, he was unbelievable. And he's just 20."

Chabal then peered at this reporter and the ABC's Gerry Collins and said: "He had a lot of pressure on his shoulders before that Test because of you … and he was quite relaxed."

France have made 11 positional changes for the second Test, including adding several more newcomers, but Chabal is convinced his team's youthful brashness will be inspirational.

"If we play with the same intensity as in the first half in Sydney, and don't switch off for 10 to 15 minutes, we will have a chance to do something," Chabal said. "Australia has a lot of young players, and we are going out there not just to play rugby, but to win. And that can happen.

"Where we have to be better is in the contact area, in particular the rucks, because Australia make it difficult for us. They did not roll out of the tackle, and the referee didn't say much about that. That slowed the game quite a lot. But if we are the first at the tackle, that won't happen.

"We also kicked too much, and should have played more phases. We showed that at the end of the game when we held the ball for more than three or four phases, and Australia soon got tired. And they were in trouble. So we will be keeping the ball more in Brisbane."

While delighted to enjoy the Sydney and Brisbane winter sunshine, Chabal has opted for a low profile on this tour. Recognised throughout the international rugby world, Chabal is without doubt French rugby's most popular figure. "But I know how to be quiet," he said. "I just stay in my room." His cave.