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Kieran Read blown away by first-half showing from New Zealand

New Zealand captain Kieran Read says that he found his side's dominant first-half showing against Australia "pretty surreal", as the Kiwis cruised to a 54-34 victory.

Kieran Read has claimed that the key to New Zealand's dominant victory over Australia in the Rugby Championship was sticking to the basic tasks.

The back-to-back world champions hammered their opponents 54-34 in Sydney to kick off their campaign in style, bagging eight tries in all.

New Zealand particularly impressed in the first half, storming 40-6 ahead before the interval thanks to three scores in the space of seven minutes.

Speaking after the match, Kiwis skipper Read is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "It was pretty surreal that first half, to be honest. We came here to play our game and it really came off.

"It was a pretty awesome first half. It came about by the doing the simple things. We carried really hard and exploited a few gaps out wide."

South Africa, who face New Zealand next Saturday, picked up a 37-15 win over Argentina in the other match.

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New Zealand's Kieran Read scores his team's seventh try against Wales during a quarter final match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup on October 17, 2015.
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