A dejected Richie McCaw reflects on New Zealand's loss at the MCG

The All Blacks surrendered a 15-6 half-time lead in Melbourne to suffer their first defeat, 20-15, at the hands of the Wallabies since 2004.

"Obviously we're disappointed in the result," said Henry. "But it could be a good thing in a couple of respects.

"It will make us re-think what we're doing; hopefully it will be character building and motivational for us."

Henry admitted the All Blacks came off second best as they suffered only a fifth defeat in 41 Tests since the last World Cup, when they were also upset by the Wallabies in the semi-finals.

New Zealand are a great side and are still the team to beat because of their consistency but we'll take this Australia captain Stirling Mortlock

"We had a number of chances in the game, particularly early, that we didn't take," Henry added. "That cost us the game.

"But they finished stronger than we did. I thought the Australians played particularly strongly in the last 20 minutes and deserved their win.

"The took their opportunities and played for the full 80 minutes.

"It is better to lose now than in the World Cup in October. This side does not lose very often and hopefully we will learn from this."

All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw, who has seen his side top the world rankings since June 2004, said the defeat had been a "reality check".

"We had them on the ropes at half-time and had we scored early in the second half it might have been a different matter," he said. "But we all know the Wallabies never lie down.

"It's a reality check but there's a lot of rugby left this year."

Australia celebrate Scott Staniforth's winning try

New Zealand had led through tries from Tony Woodcock and Rico Gear but Australia scored 14 unanswered points in the second half with scores from Adam Ashley-Cooper and Scott Staniforth.

"We didn't play well in the first half, we scrambled to keep ourselves in the game," said Australian coach John Connolly.

"You know what you've got to do to beat the All Blacks, it's just so hard to do because they're so good."

Australia were led admirably by skipper Stirling Mortlock who was a constant threat and created the winning Staniforth try with a blistering break.

"We had some issues to address at half-time and thankfully we came out and did that," he said. "It was a great effort by us and it has been a long time coming.

"New Zealand are a great side and are still the team to beat because of their consistency but we'll take this."

Australia will need to win or draw in the return match in Auckland in three weeks to relieve New Zealand of the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002.

New Zealand have not lost any of their last 24 Tests at home, a sequence stretching back four years.

Meanwhile, Wallabies attack coach Scott Johnson has honoured a bet with the players by shaving off his signature grey locks, raising money for charity in the process.

"We haven't beaten New Zealand in a long time (three years) and I haven't coached a team that's beaten the All Blacks," he said.