Australia lock James Horwill does not buy into suggestions that the New Zealand line-out is ripe for the taking.

The 24-year-old is expecting a much-improved effort from Australia's trans-Tasman foes in the dead-rubber tie at Westpac Stadium this weekend.

The line-out has been an issue for the All Blacks all year and they hit a new low against South Africa last weekend when they could not win any of their own throws in the first half in Hamilton.

But with debutant lock Tom Donnelly and blindside flanker Adam Thomson - a strong line-out option - brought into the pack this week, Horwill is certain those problems will not resurface in Wellington.

"When you see a team perform poorly one week, the next week they are usually much better and I expect that to be the case this weekend," said the second rower.

"They have got a lot of good jumpers there so it will be tough for us.

"We need to make sure that we back our drills and stick to our guns. Hopefully if we do that we can get some good clean ball for our backs."

Horwill also conceded the Wallabies' line-out had struggled to impose itself against the dominant Springboks.

"They are a very good line-out, especially defensively," he admitted.

"Victor (Matfield) and Bakkies (Botha) and Juan Smith and Pierre Spies work very well together as a group and they are a tough prospect.

"We know how they (New Zealand) feel a little bit after our performance in Newlands wasn't up to scratch."

Australia arrive in Wellington having lost their last five consecutive Tests against New Zealand.

They have also not won on New Zealand soil since a 23-15 result in Dunedin in 2001.

But in their most recent losses, in Sydney and Auckland, they led at half-time before allowing the New Zealanders back into the game to steal the victories.

"We've talked about the fact we need to play for 80 minutes," added Horwill, who will play in his 19th Test on Saturday.

"It's something that's been a problem across the Tri-Nations against all the teams - we haven't been playing the full 80 minutes.

"We did it more so against the Springboks (in Brisbane) so that's something we can hopefully build on this week.

"Maybe it's a lack of concentration. We're letting things slip a bit. Against the All Blacks we've lacked a bit of discipline and let them back into the game and they've taken their opportunities.

"We will try and take our opportunities this weekend."

Veteran loose forward Rocky Elsom felt they turned a corner in that regard in the 21-6 win in Brisbane.

He said: "The fact that things went reasonably well for the Springboks early on and we managed to get on top of them as the game went on. That was a real positive.

"But it's New Zealand and they've got a point to prove.

"When you make changes like they have and you get the flak that they're getting, they are a much harder team to play."