Impressive debut: Israel Folau

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Waratahs full-back Israel Folau scored a brace of tries in his rugby union debut for the Sydneysiders in a trial match against the Rebels in Hobart on Saturday.

The former rugby league international and AFL player impressed in his side's win and had a hand in two other tries.

Folau said he enjoyed his first match in his new code.

"I felt really comfortable to be quite honest," he told AAP.

"It's like I never left a game like rugby.

"I felt really relaxed throughout the day and that's the way I felt coming into the game."

He showed his class when he scored his first try in the 12th minute, after beating three defenders, and also dotted down with the last play of the match, when he got the better of two opponents.

"That last try I just found myself in the right spot at the right time," he said.

"I think today I can learn a lot from the game and there's certainly a long way to go in terms of learning a few things in both attack and defence."

Folau also spent time on the wing and at centre and Waratahs boss Michael Cheika was impressed with his new recruit's performance.

"Positionally (at full-back) he was probably in much better sync than I thought he might be," Cheika said.

"Obviously his natural talent showed on a couple of occasions very well and I think he looked pretty comfortable really.

"All he has to do is enjoy himself and make our team and his talent will do the rest from there."