Cape Town – New Zealand coach Steve Hansen has hailed Australia’s set-piece ahead of their Bledisloe Cup clash in Perth next Saturday.

The game, which doubles as their final Rugby Championship fixture, will see the All Blacks and Wallabies meet for the first time in 2019.

Hansen believes Australia are progressing ahead of the Rugby World Cup and has particularly been impressed with their scrum and lineout.

“Their set-piece is working really well, they’re scrummaging really well, their lineout is running at 100 percent and they’ve always had dangerous backs so we have just got to go and try and put some pressure on their set-piece,” Hansen told the All Blacks website.

“Their scrum is tidy and like every scrum they’ll have moments where they lack concentration and look poor but I think the majority of the time they scrum really well.”

On their own game Hansen is keen to see further improvements as they look to bounce back from a disappointing 16-16 draw with South Africa.

“At this time of the season, we have had a couple of weeks together now and two games, so everybody has played a game so we’re expecting to see things improve and combinations starting to click,” he said.

“We know we always improve the more games we have and the more time we spend together. Are we going to improve? How much? We’re going to have to wait and see.”

Meanwhile, New Zealand will be without back-rower Luke Jacobson and flyhalf Josh Ioane for the match with both players ruled out due to concussion.

“We’ve got enough players. That’s why we took the big squad. Obviously there are concerns. It’s like all concussions, you’ve just got to take your time and when they’re ready to play and train, you bring them back,” Hansen added.

“We’re not sure with Lukey. He doesn’t recall anything, but he’s had a concussion before. It just may be a form that has decided to come back. We’ll take our time with him and get him sorted and go from there.”

Ioane, who was not in the chosen squad for Perth, but who was added in the apprenticeship-type role the selectors have used in recent years. However, he suffered a head knock playing for Otago in their 54-19 pre-season loss to Tasman.

The side was also providing support for flank Vaea Fifita who learned of the death of a brother due to drowning in the United States.