Rugby: One-man storm looming for Hurricanes

Conrad Smith says his side must work hard to maintain their winng form. Photo / Getty Images

He's only one man. Well ... that's how the Hurricanes see Waratahs fullback Israel Folau.

But Folau is playing like a man possessed this season, racking up huge numbers in Super Rugby as opposition defences struggle to contain him.

He's scored a competition-leading nine tries, has made the most clean breaks with 15 and also leads the league in offloads with 22.

Standing around 1.93m, weighing 102kg and able to run as quick as anyone on a footy field, Folau is a dangerous operator.

When the Hurricanes meet the Waratahs in Sydney tomorrow, finding a way to isolate him will be a key task.

First-five Beauden Barrett must ensure his kicking is accurate, and the chase will have to match his intent.

"He's one person," Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett said of Folau.

"Any good defence is set up from team structure and working together so that's all we've been working on this week and he'll have times where he gets one up on us but it's important we can live with that and deal with that."

Tomorrow's game features some of the most dynamic players in the competition.

Folau has made the most clean breaks this season, Hurricanes second-five Alapati Leiua is second with 14 and teammate Julian Savea has had 12.

Hammett's side are on a four-match winning run, which is a notable turnaround after they dropped their first three games of the year.

"We keep reminding ourselves, we talked about it after we lost, we had to keep the faith in what we were doing," Hurricanes skipper Conrad Smith said.

"That doesn't change when we put a few wins together. We still need to do the hard work that got us there in the first place."

Smith will have a busy night trying to contain opposite number Adam Ashley-Cooper who he has played seemingly countless times across Super Rugby and test matches.

Then there's Folau.

"He's obviously always improving and he's a big threat," Smith said.

After being beaten 21-13 by the Blues last week, Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has made a handful of changes to his side.

Hammett has the luxury of sticking with the same starting XV who toppled the Reds last Saturday and the only tweak comes in the reserves where halfback Chris Smylie drops out with a hamstring strain and is replaced by Billy Guyton.