Kelsey Jones earned her 50th cap for Wales during last summer's tour of Australia.
Having been involved with the Wales squad for nearly a decade, Jones acknowledges that "something feels different" this year.
Sean Lynn has refreshed both the coaching staff and the playing squad as he enters his second year as head coach.
Although Wales were defeated in their Six Nations opener against Scotland on Saturday, there were clear improvements compared to last summer's World Cup performance.
"Personally on the weekend that was the most confident I have felt in a Welsh jersey, probably since 2023 where we came third in that Six Nations,"
said Jones, who scored Wales' opening try at the Principality Stadium.
"It's nice to have that feeling and now that belief is there. I'm excited to see where we go as a squad, I really do believe we're going to do well."
The foundations for success
Jones has witnessed Wales' progression into professionalism firsthand and was part of the 2023 squad that reached an all-time high of sixth in the world rankings.
However, since then Wales have experienced a concerning decline, with Lynn yet to significantly improve results since his arrival from Gloucester-Hartpury.
"Winning becomes a habit, but I also think losing becomes a habit, and we sort of fell into that habit of losing - not that we were ever happy or accepted it - but that belief just disappeared,"
Jones explained.
"We've obviously had our struggles, as probably other nations have, but something feels different.
Our attack is completely new, our defence is completely new, everything is new, but it's given us that kick of excitement.
I truly believe this campaign is going to set us up to become a winning team.
That belief is there, it's such a feel good factor. I can't stop smiling - I know that's not new because I can't stop smiling anyway - but the cohesion is probably the best it's been in a long time."
Nothing to lose against Les Bleues
Wales will require strong belief when they face France, a team ranked four places above them at fourth in the world.
Les Bleues arrive at Cardiff Arms Park following a dominant six-try win over Italy in the opening round. While Jones acknowledges Wales are underdogs, she remains optimistic about their prospects.
"We've got nothing to lose. The big focus has got to be on us going into these games. We're learning so much as a squad, learning from each other, learning from the coaches, learning what we can be and that's the really exciting part,"
Jones said.
"I truly believe 'why not?'. We've got to start competing at some point, why wait to tick France and England off and then try to compete in the last few games?
It starts from the game that we finished on the weekend and we keep building on that performance now."
