NEWS

Eagles Start Summer Match Series With Belgium Success

Written by Joe Harvey | Photos by Laura Stroud

On Saturday night, the USA Men’s Eagles started their three-week international Match Series on home soil with a 36-17 victory over Belgium.

There were tries for Dominic Besag, Vili Helu, Tavite Lopeti, Makeen Alikhan, Cory Daniel, and Ben Bonasso, who were all try scorers at Anthem RC’s American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Great kick off to the 2025 Match Series with a Win against Belgium 💪

Tries: Besag, Helu, Lopeti, Alikhan, Danie, Bonasso

Conv: MacGinty (3) pic.twitter.com/6TquByDAfj

— USA Rugby (@USARugby) July 6, 2025

Even though it was the Eagles that ended the 80 minutes with extra cause to celebrate on this Fourth of July weekend, it was Rugby World Cup hopefuls Belgium that took the lead with a Hugo de Franq penalty after Cory Daniel was called offside.

The Eagles’ response was resolute. 

Immediately, the hosts found themselves with good territory, and when a close-range maul was snuffed out, Ruben de Haas took the ball to the defensive line before whipping a pass left to Dominic Besag to dot down unopposed. AJ MacGinty converted the center’s score.

A steal at the breakdown by Nate Augspurger paved the way for Helu’s score. 

With an eagerness to extend their lead ahead of half-time, the Eagles attacked wholeheartedly, and the back-row made his way across the whitewash thanks to the quick hands of Shilo Klein and Marno Redelinghuys. MacGinty converted the score with ease.

Much like in the first half, Belgium struck first when the game resumed.

Instead of a penalty, this time it was a Matias Remue counterattacking try and a De Franq conversion that breathed fresh life into the contest. 

It took nine minutes for the Eagles to get back on the score sheet. As Belgium looked to exit their half, Mitch Wilson collected the ball before he offloaded to Tavite Lopeti, who snaked his way past red jerseys to dot down out wide.

With renewed confidence, the home side moved further ahead as Alikhan marked his debut with a try.

Only recently introduced to the contest, Alikhan first received the ball from Daniel’s linebreak before swapping possession with MacGinty and getting over the whitewash. MacGinty converted the score.

Three minutes later, Daniel had a score of his own after he splintered from the back of a maul to place down in the corner unopposed.

That scoreline became insurmountable for Belgium’s Black Devils as carries from Lopeti and Alikhan provided the runway for Bonasso to cap off his first game as captain with a try.

To provide a consolation score, Belgium’s Remue Mazy ran that confounded defenders, sending replacement center Siméon Soenen over from close range, who also converted the score.

“We were happy with the functioning of our set piece,” Scott Lawrence, USA Men’s Eagles head coach, said. 

“We’ll go back and review some of the scrum penalties, but genuinely, we nailed the set piece going into this game, and that’s a plus. 

“We’ve got some work to do on our kick game and in some of our decision-making around defense, but it’s the first week and will get better as these weeks go on.”

AUGSPURGER HITS 50 EAGLES APPEARANCES

Saturday night was a particularly special occasion for Nate Augspurger.

The Chicago Hounds wing won his 50th cap for the USA in 15s, nine years after making his debut in a 24-20 loss to Italy, and is only the 13th men’s player to achieve the feat.

Augspurger can only be described as a true servant to rugby in the USA. 

Hard fought and well earned 👏

Congrats Nate, on 50 remarkable games in a USA shirt. pic.twitter.com/z2sFL2OOiW

— USA Rugby (@USARugby) July 7, 2025

Now 35, he made his international sevens debut on the World Series in 2012 and has developed into a leader in the locker room as the years have gone by.

Such is his ability on the field that Augspurger has also been seen regularly at scrum-half, utilizing that skillset to his advantage every minute he is on the field.

“If we could bottle up Nate Asperger and sprinkle it on every player that came in here, we would certainly do that,” Lawrence said ahead of the game. 

“He’s a tremendously gifted leader within the squad. His level of effort is second to none. 

“We had a training review yesterday, and we had three clips of efforts that were world-class efforts from Nate, and that’s in the training field. 

“So on and off the field, his influence has been significant.”

QUINTET OF DEBUTS FOR MLR STARS

Saturday night saw five players make their first appearance in an Eagles jersey.

Both the Utah Warriors’ Tonga Kofe and Houston SaberCats’ Marno Redelinghuys were in from the start against Belgium.

Redelinghuys enjoyed a familiarly dominant outing in the second row, as he ploughed through work and even had a say in Vili Helu’s score thanks to some deft passing.

For Kofe, his Eagles debut was the reward of several years’ hard work, which has seen him transition from football at Portland State University to international tighthead prop.

There were also debuts from the bench for Anthem RC’s Makeen Alikhan, Old Glory DC’s Tevita Naqali, and the Chicago Hounds’ Chris Hilsenbeck.

Alikhan certainly had a night to remember in Charlotte as he dotted down a decisive score in the contest and was influential in Bonasso’s score.

Well, that was fun 🇺🇸

USA v Spain up next!
📆 Saturday, July 12
📍 Charlotte, NC
🎟️ Tickets still available at https://t.co/XVJMRigIkI pic.twitter.com/tByEmSob65

— USA Rugby (@USARugby) July 6, 2025