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Tahs, Landers highly wary of each other

He may be causing havoc as Israel Folau's aerial accomplice, but NSW Waratahs forward Ned Hanigan is wary of the Highlanders "organised chaos" style heading into their Super Rugby quarter-final.

Fullback Folau is an established aerial threat and Wallabies flanker Hanigan has also developed into a nuisance for opposing sides from restarts.

He worked on contesting kick-offs with Wallabies skills coach Michael Byrne and has continued that with the Waratahs, enjoying significant success in that area against the Brumbies last weekend.

"Obviously we've got Israel, who is the best in the world in the air in what he does, just having another option there keeps them guessing," Hanigan said.

"On the weekend, the Brumbies sort of, not left it open, but it was just an easier catch (for me) than what Israel probably had to deal with.

"He had two pods jamming up on him which is also a hell of a good thing.

"Because you've got a bloke like that so other teams change for him, which leaves the other things a little more accessible."

Folau said Hanigan was great in the air and appreciated the fact opposing teams had someone else to worry about in that area.

"He's been working on that post-training and it's good to see that pay off. It's another great option for us with the restarts," Folau said.

Hanigan missed the Waratahs' win over the Highlanders earlier in the season, but was well aware of the threats the Kiwi team posed.

"They are very good at reacting to things that their backfield create, forwards included," he said.

"They move the ball around and I think they will probably look to have us moving about a fair bit and organised chaos is their their game and they are good at it."

Hanigan admitted it wasn't an easy style to counter.

"It is hard, because they are creating situations that are a little bit unorthodox particularly from set piece," Hanigan said.

"I guess we've just got to be really good in our transition speed especially, making sure that attack to defence, back to attack, is just really fast.

"So blokes are really reactive and it comes down to just picking the right options at the right time."

Meanwhile, the Highlanders want to regain their old turnover skills to avoid being swamped by the Waratahs.

A classic 'attack vs counter-attack' battle looms in Sydney on Saturday, with the visitors acknowledging they could face a long night at the office if they don't tidy up their defence, the Kiwi side having conceded 127 points in their last three games.

Heavy losses to the Chiefs and Crusaders after the June international break were followed by last week's thrilling 43-37 defeat of the Melbourne Rebels.

The same leaks will be pounced on by a Waratahs side whose 557 points scored leads Super Rugby in 2018.

Outside backs Folau, Taqele Naiyaravoro and Curis Rona are all among the top 10 players for clean breaks.

On the flip side, the Highlanders have made - and missed - considerably more tackles than any team, often happy to kick away possession and rely on counter-attacking strike off turnovers.

Highlanders assistant coach Clarke Dermody noted the turnovers have dried up in recent weeks.

"Teams have been able to hold that ball and we haven't been able to get it back as fast as we would like,"

"Potentially later in games, tiredness can then have an effect especially against the calibre of teams we've come up against. They're either teams in the play-offs or trying to get there and attacks have sharpened right up."

Highlanders forwards Luke Whitelock, Dillon Hunt and Tom Franklin are the three most prolific tacklers in Super Rugby this season.

All three were rested from the starting side against the Rebels and will be refreshed for Sydney, along with key All Blacks backs Ben and Aaron Smith.

Dermody says a vast improvement is needed against a Waratahs team who overwhelmed them 41-12 two months ago in the match which broke Australia's long winless drought in trans-Tasman matches.

"The Waratahs are by far the best team in Australia," Dermody said.

"They've got attacking threats all over. The good thing is we understand what we're coming up against."