TOMAS Francis has hailed the "unreal" atmosphere in Wales' squad following the completion of a first four-from-four autumn Tests clean sweep.
Francis' early try - no Wales prop had previously touched down in Tests against South Africa, New Zealand or Australia - sent his team on their way to a 20-11 victory over the Springboks.
Wales extended an unbeaten run to nine games - their longest winning sequence since 1999 - and they have not lost at home for a year.
It augers well for a Six Nations campaign that begins against France in Paris on February 1, with Francis, who had never scored a try for Wales or his club Exeter, enthused by what lies ahead.
"Winning is a habit and, as a squad, we believe," he said. "Everyone works for each other, and we are on a good run at the minute.
"It is a squad you want to be involved in. The atmosphere is unreal.
"It was a great feeling to score a try - it is not something I do very often. I think the last one was when I played for London Scottish or Doncaster."
Tries by Francis and full-back Liam Williams, plus two Gareth Anscombe conversions and a couple of key late Dan Biggar penalties saw Wales through to a fourth successive win against South Africa.
It did, though, come at a cost, with back-row forward Ellis Jenkins suffering a knee injury during the dying seconds that could see him miss Wales' entire Six Nations campaign and possibly the rest of this season.
He's due to undergo a scan in the next 24 hours, after which a clearer picture should emerge.
Jenkins, a late call-up to replace an injured Dan Lydiate, started at blindside flanker, then moved to number eight when Ross Moriarty went off after just 12 minutes, and he delivered his finest Test match performance.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland said: "It looks like an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), which is not brilliant.
"When anyone gets injured, it's the hardest thing to take. You know it's a big year for a lot of players, and they work so hard.
"When you see a player who has worked hard to win his spot and get in the team, pick up an injury, you feel for him."
Jenkins apart, Wales also saw the likes of 21-year-old flanker Aaron Wainwright and skipper Alun Wyn Jones deliver towering displays, while Biggar's composed and tactically-astute contribution off the bench proved critical to the final outcome.
Centre Jonathan Davies added: "We went into our shells a bit after half time - we were probably making sure we didn't lose the game instead of going out and winning it.
"But I think we showed the character and control of just closing out the game, winning those arm-wrestles and trusting our defence at the end.
"Winning is a habit. When you have that experience in the squad, you know what you need to do.
"It was one of the most physical Test matches I have been involved in."
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