A superb hat-trick and lethal attacking performance in Bloemfontein on the weekend to help cement the Waratahs' place near the top of the finals pecking order smashed questions about Folau's form and signalled to anyone watching that the dual international is as dangerous as ever.

After an uncharacteristically error-filled performance in Johannesburg the week before, Folau ran rings around hapless defenders, even overcoming Cheetahs' centre Rayno Benjamin's blatant attempt to trip him as he bolted to the line to contribute 15 of the Waratahs' 58 points in their nine-try demolition of the South Africans.

Waratahs captain Dave Dennis said he expected nothing less from the champion fullback.

"It's very rare he has two bad games back to back, Izzy is a world class player and there's no doubt he would have been disappointed with his performance last week," Dennis said.  "There's no better way to bounce back than with an effort like that and a hat trick. They were on the back of some really strong team work but it just shows you what a player of his class can do if given the space."



The NSW captain also revealed that the death of All Blacks great Jerry Collins had affected the NSW camp deeply in the lead-up to their must-win match.  "It is a really tragic thing to be honest, not even knowing the guy I was touched by it and I know a lot of the other players were as well," Dennis said.  "To see that happen to such an enormous player was very tough ... we mentioned it and everyone pays their respects in different ways. Particularly for some of the guys with kids, it touched them a bit as well."

Folau's year has been the Waratahs' fortunes writ small. He lit up the competition last year, scoring a competition-topping 12 tries as the Waratahs marched to their maiden Super Rugby title.

The accolades and a new season delivered a new challenge – how to make the same impact under more scrutiny and pressure than ever before.

The Waratahs brought forward an experiment using Folau in the mid-field on attack. As well as boosting a mid-field suffering the absence of Adam Ashley-Cooper, it upped his involvement and kept the Waratahs fighting through the topsy-turvy middle stages of the competition. It did nothing for his individual stats – Folau's name is nowhere to be seen on the try-scoring top 10 list this year – but the selfless performer would be judging himself on other numbers, which are as impressive as ever: top of the pops on carries, offloads and run metres and second on defenders beaten.

A perfectionist, no one would have been more dismayed by the fumbles, hesitations and two missed tackles that blighted his game against the Lions.

Dennis predicted the response before the match and his fullback delivered, helping put the spring back in the Waratahs' step heading into their crucial final-round clash with Queensland.