TOMAS Francis has hailed the self-belief in Wales’ squad following the completion of a first autumn Tests clean sweep, writes Iwan Gabe Davies.

Francis’ early try sent his team on their way to Saturday's 20-11 victory over the Springboks to make it four from four wins in November.

Wales extended an unbeaten run to nine games – their longest winning sequence since 1999 – and they have not lost at home for a year.

Warren Gatland's men saw off Scotland, Australia, Tonga and South Africa.

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, excited 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.

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.”