All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw sits with coach Graham Henry following his side's opening Tri-Nations win © Getty Images

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Matches: New Zealand 22 - 16 Australia

Players/Officials: Berrick Barnes | Robbie Deans | Stephen Donald | Matt Giteau | Sir Graham Henry | Richie McCaw

Tournaments/Tours: Tri Nations

Teams: Australia | New Zealand

All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw praised his side's resilience after they secured a hard-fought 22-16 win over Australia at Eden Park.

McCaw made his return to the Test arena after a lengthy injury layoff following the Crusaders' loss to the Bulls in the Super 14 semi-final in May, and was pleased that his side had the guts to pull through after trailing early on to a try from Berrick Barnes. McCaw himself bagged the All Blacks' only try as he went head-to-head with George Smith, who was winning his 100th cap.

The All Blacks have struggled so far this season in Tests against France and Italy, but came through their first Tri-Nations examination well as they look to defend the series and the Bledisloe Cup.

"At the end of the day there's very little between these two teams and sometimes it's about who really wants to dig deep at the end of 80 minutes," he said. "I'm pretty proud of the guys and the way they did that.

"It did take a while to get into the game and it was a wee bit frustrating but the guys made sure we stuck together and into the wind I thought we got a bit of momentum. The second half we were swinging backwards and forwards but the wind helped us."

All Blacks coach Graham Henry made a raft of quick-fire changes at the start of the second-half, introducing the mobile Owen Franks and Keven Mealamu to bolster their good work at the breakdown. Hooker Andrew Hore struggled early on with his throwing, but the All Blacks were able to right this problem as the game progressed.

"I think the guys who came on added something and it's great to have," said McCaw. "The lineout was perhaps overthrown early on but they were the right calls and continued to back our skills and it came right as the game wore on. It's nice to get through 80 minutes and I'm glad to get points on the board but I was a wee bit rusty."