Rod Kafer analyses how the Brumbies can stop Waratahs superstar Israel Folau

YOUR mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stop Israel Folau. Fox Sports’ Rod Kafer explains how the Brumbies can achieve it.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 01: Israel Folau of the Waratahs beats the defence to score a try during the round three Super Rugby match between the Waratahs and the Reds at ANZ Stadium on March 1, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Joosep Martinson/Getty Images)

YOUR mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stop Israel Folau.

The Brumbies are the latest team to be tasked with this toughest of tasks - attempting to ground a flying Folau from wreaking more havoc for the Waratahs when the two sides meet in Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.

If you are unsure about the size of that challenge, we will help you out with a quick look at the numbers.

After two matches for NSW in 2014 Folau is averaging 11 runs per game for 125 metres. He has already busted 12 tackles, made four linebreaks and added a Sonny Bill Williams-like seven offloads.

Then there is the killer stat: five tries in two games.

So far the Waratahs’ rivals have been unable to stop Folau, but can the Brumbies quell his attacking threat?

Fox Sports Rugby expert Rod Kafer says yes.

Kafer analysed the Waratahs’ attack and Brumbies’ defence for his Fox Field segment on Rugby HQ. You can watch the video in the player above.News_Rich_Media: Nick McArdle and Tim Horan preview the clash between the Brumbies and the Waratahs.

He also sat down with foxsports.com.au to explain the threat of Folau - and how the Brumbies can try and contain him.

Folau’s most recent outing was NSW’s 35-8 thrashing of Queensland, during which he crossed for two tries in a match

“Against the Reds they played into his hands,” Kafer said.

“They just kicked a lot of ball to him, brought him into the game, they invited into the game without a disciplined kick chase.

“That gave the Waratahs confidence, and the Waratahs feed a lot of confidence off Israel. You can see when Izzy makes a break or when Izzy does something good in the game the Waratahs get a lot of confidence from that.

“So I think the Brumbies will deliberately not kick him the ball. They won’t give him the opportunity with the ball, they’ll try to hold on to it. Maybe they’ll do something different which they haven’t done a lot of and that’s run the ball out of their own half.News_Image_File: Will we see Izzy score another five-pointer this weekend?

“They’ll change it up because they’ve got the capability to do that, we’ve seen the Brumbies do that.”

Of course, the Brumbies will have to kick at some point. But it’s how they kick and what they do afterwards that is important.

“The Brumbies have got one of the best kick-chase games going around,” he said. “They kick quite a lot. They’re a team that’s good at getting out of their own half because they have a good kicking game, a long kicking game through Matt Toomua, Nic White in particular, and also Jesse Mogg.

“Two right-footed kickers with long boots and a left-footed long kicker. But they’ve backed it up with an excellent kick-chase. They’ve got really hard-working midfield defenders who kick-chase really well.

“When they have to kick, which they will, they’ll be really disciplined in their kick-chase.”

Okay, step one: have a good kick-chase game. But what about when the Waratahs have the ball and are on the attack?

Then it was up to the widest men on the field to come into play, Kafer explained.

“The way teams defend is with their open-side wingers in particular, they tend to take the fullback who’s coming into the line,” he said.

“They leave their opposite man alone.

“One of the things the Brumbies have done well, particularly through Henry Speight, is to shut down opposition fullbacks.

“I don’t think Israel will get the space like he’s gotten in the first two games, where he’s had opportunities off first-phase and off multiple phases where he’s come inside the open-side winger.

“I will be amazed if the open-sized winger is not coming in. They’ll score tries probably on the outside of Israel Folau with their open wingers. I’ll be amazed if they let Israel Folau run through a hole in the middle of the field.

“You’ll see Henry Speight, he’s done it all season and is probably one of the best defensive wingers you can imagine at the moment. His timing is perfect, got great agility. He’ll be up and in Israel’s face as often as he can be.”News_Image_File: Henry Speight (L) will negate Folau’s impact, Kafer says.

So there’s step two: come in from the wing to cut down Folau’s time and space.

But is this plan too Folau-focused?

“In the balance of threats you balance up the risk and reward,” Kafer said.

“And you say ‘the biggest risk is Israel Folau. If you want to throw it over the top of Izzy and try to hit the open winger who’s on the touchline, go for your life. We’ll put pressure coming outside in and really defend hard against you and we’ll make you throw the big pass. If you’re good enough you’ll score but we won’t let Izzy run through the middle of us’.

“If it happens something will have gone wrong for the Brumbies.”