The Wallabies want to earn the respect of their opponents again, as they head into a five-Test tour that starts with a Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks in Tokyo on Saturday.

Following a disastrous Tri-Nations that saw them flop to one win from six starts, and being white-washed by the All Blacks, they are now chasing a rare win over the Kiwis as well as a Grand Slam against the Home Unions - England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Vice-captain Berrick Barnes told a media gathering in Tokyo that the encounter with New Zealand in the National Stadium on Saturday will set the tone for the rest of the trip.

Barnes says it's vital the Wallabies regain some credibility before arriving in the United Kingdom.

"That's something we've talked about the last three weeks - trying to win back a lot of respect," Barnes told AAP.

"Not just in our part of the world but up north as well because they'll be looking to knock us off for sure.

"So this is one big stepping stone for that to happen."

A well overdue victory - which would snap a six-match losing streak against the All Blacks - would provide the Wallabies with an immeasurable shot of confidence ahead of the grand slam component of the five-week, seven-game tour, which also takes in mid-week encounters with Gloucester and Cardiff.

"It would give us a big boost," Barnes said of taking a win over the All Blacks into the Grand Slam tour.

"Obviously our performances have warranted the criticisms we've got, so definitely a good result this weekend would certainly help.

"We've only got ourselves to look at there and going over [to the UK with a win under our belt] will send a message to the other teams that we're fair dinkum as well.

"Probably right now they'll [the teams on the Grand Slam tour] be looking at us thinking they can knock us off as well and that we're probably the easiest of the three southern hemisphere teams to beat.

With foul weather striking Tokyo this week, the Wallabies concede they will need to be tactically perfect to reverse their sorry run of losses against the All Blacks in Saturday's Bledisloe Cup clash.

Rain has lashed Japan's national capital ever since the Wallabies arrived at the weekend for the historic fixture and the worst of the dire conditions is still to come, according to forecasts.

"Someone's given me the mail that we've got some mini typhoon coming tomorrow [Tuesday] morning," Wallabies vice-captain Berrick Barnes said on Monday.

"It's been pretty rotten here so far. You've only got to hope that that's going to clear up, but both teams are going to have to play in it if it is like that."

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