‘First half was surreal’ – Read

All Blacks captain Kieran Read was pleased with his side’s 54-34 Rugby Championship win against Australia in Sydney on Saturday.

New Zealand played brilliantly in the first half and left Australia completely shell-shocked, but the BetVictor odds had predicted a quick .

The All Blacks held a 40-6 lead at half-time, a record score for them against Australia after 40 minutes. The Wallabies fought back well in the second half but New Zealand sealed a comfortable 54-34 win.

20 year old star winger Rieko Ioane and outside centre Ryan Crotty each scored two tries for the World Champions while Liam Squire, Sonny Bill Williams, debutant Damian McKenzie and Ben Smith also dotted down.

Read admitted that he was surprised at how well the first half went for him and his charges.

“It was pretty surreal that first half to be honest,” he said.

“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.”