TWICKENHAM, England: New Zealand withstood a spirited second-half revival to beat England 26-16 in the opening match of its European tour Saturday. Hosea Gear and Kieran Read touched down in the first 21 minutes as the rampant All Blacks threatened to overwhelm the home side but New Zealand-born hooker Dylan Hartley reduced the deficit after halftime. England center Shontayne Hape's 85th-minute try in the corner was disallowed on video replay with the All Blacks down to 14 men for a yellow card to Jerome Kaino, and the southern hemisphere champions held on for a ninth straight win against England. Errors by a relatively inexperienced team gave Dan Carter the opportunity to kick three penalties for a final personal tally of 16 points. Australia beats Wales In Wales, Australia weathered early resistance from Wales before pulling clear in the second half to open its end-of-year European tour with a 25-16 win Saturday. The Wallabies went into the break only 7-6 ahead thanks to a try by irrepressible flanker David Pocock but added two more in the second half through fullback Kurtley Beale and prop Ben Alexander. Winger James O'Connor, who set up the final two tries, kicked two conversions and two penalties to finish with 10 points for the tourists. Injury-ravaged Wales battled gamely, even edging a tight first half, but had to be content with three penalties by flyhalf Stephen Jones and a late converted try by Richie Rees. It was Australia's second successive win following last Saturday's triumph over New Zealand in Hong Kong. SA beats Ireland In Dublin, South Africa overpowered Ireland but ended clinging on for a 23-21 victory to start its Grand Slam tour Saturday. The Springboks led 23-9 with 15 minutes to play on tries from Juan Smith and Gio Aplon. But Ireland struck back with tries from Tommy Bowe and Rob Kearney. Ronan O'Gara's conversion attempt of Kearney's try with 5 minutes left bounced off the right post to deny the Irish a draw in their first match back home in the redeveloped Lansdowne Road after four years away. Smith scored in the 17th minute when he intercepted an Eoin Reddan pass and thundered 65 meters. He slid the final few meters after an ankle tackle by Kearney. Ireland's Jonathan Sexton nailed three of four penalty attempts. Morne Steyn also hit three of four penalty attempts. His only miss early in the second half ended his streak of 41 straight goals.
