It wasn’t pretty at times, but the USA got their July test series off to a winning start with a comfortable 36-17 result over Belgium in Charlotte on Saturday night. A sluggish start saw the Eagles held scoreless for 20 minutes but they grew into the game and pulled away with four tries in the second half, with both Belgian scores long-range efforts inspired by outstanding fullback Matias Remue.
The home side were largely in control during the first half, but a string of unforced errors prevented them from capitalising on their territory and possession advantage. Instead it was Hugo de Francq who opened the scoring with a 40-meter penalty goal 13 minutes in. An injury to Sam Golla then hit the Eagles, the second row looking dejected as he left the pitch holding his right arm.
Makeen Alikhan came into the game with Vili Helu shifting to lock. Within moments their first try was scored by Dom Besag, the midfielder left wide open after the forwards had tied in the Belgian defense. A Nate Augspurger turnover created another opportunity before halftime. AJ MacGinty broke through with Shilo Klein, Marno Redelinghuys, and finally Helu taking the ball on. The conversion from MacGinty made it 14-3 at halftime in favor of the home side.
Early in the second half a poor kick-chase left Remue with room to run, and the speedster took off from his own half before chipping and regathering for a wonderful individual try. A grubber attempt from twin brother Florian instead bounced straight into the arms of Mitch Wilson, who slipped past two defenders and offloaded to Tavite Lopeti for a breakaway score.
An ill-advised attempt to keep the ball alive from Matias Remue nearly resulted in another Eagles try, only for Wilson to spill possession with the line seemingly as his mercy. The USA would get the score eventually when MacGinty sent Cory Daniel through a gap, the flanker returning the ball to the flyhalf. A give-and-go between MacGinty and Alikhan put the newcomer in for a try on debut.
Daniel picked up a try for his efforts when he broke to the unguarded short side of a driving maul. A sixth Eagles try appropriately went to new captain Ben Bonasso, who burst through on quick ball after Alikhan had put the Belgians on the back foot with a half-break. A consolation score went to Siméon Soenen, who sped free after another mazy run from Matias Remue. This time the fullback took off from the shadow of his own goal posts, speeding over halfway until Soenen appeared on his shoulder.
The Black Devils now head north to take on Canada in Edmonton next weekend. It’s another week in Charlotte for the Eagles, who will face a tougher opponent in Spain on Saturday.
USA 36
Tries (6) – D. Besag (23′), V. Helu (38′), T. Lopeti (50′), M. Alikhan (57′), C. Daniel (60′), B. Bonasso (69′)
Cons (3) – A. MacGinty 3/5 (24′, 39′, 58′), C. Hilsenbeck 0/1
BELGIUM 17
Tries (2) – M. Remue (42′), S. Soenen (76′)
Cons (2) – H. de Francq 1/1 (43′), S. Soenen 1/1 (76′)
Pens (1) – H. de Francq 1/1 (13′)
USA
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Payton Telea-Ilalio 61′), 2 Shilo Klein (16 Kapeli Pifeleti 47′), 3 Tonga Kofe (18 Pono Davis 47′), 4 Marno Redelinghuys (19 Tevita Naqali 70′), 5 Sam Golla (20 Makeen Alikhan 22′), 6 Vili Helu, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Benjamín Bonasso (capt.), 9 Ruben de Haas (21 JP Smith 58′), 10 AJ MacGinty (22 Christopher Hilsenbeck 61′), 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Tavite Lopeti, 13 Dom Besag, 14 Toby Fricker, 15 Mitch Wilson (23 Erich Storti 70′)
BELGIUM
1 Charlesty Berguet (16 Lucas Sotteau 68′), 2 Alexandre Raynier (17 Julien Masure 65′), 3 Jean-Baptiste de Clercq (18 Bruno Vliegen 47′), 4 Toon Deceuninck, 5 Arthur Smeets (19 Dries de Keyser HT), 6 Jean-Maurice Decubber (capt.), 7 Jérémie Brasseur (20 Felipe Geraghty 61′), 8 William van Bost, 9 Julien Berger (21 Isaac Montoisy 51′), 10 Hugo de Francq, 11 Ervin Muric, 12 Maxime Vacquier, 13 Florian Remue (23 Jens Torfs 55′), 14 Dazzy Cornez (22 Siméon Soenen 58′), 15 Matias Remue
Date: Saturday, July 5
Venue: American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte
Kickoff: 19:30 local
Weather: sunny, 88°F (31°C), wind E 10-15mph (16-24km/h)
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistants: Morné Ferreira (South Africa) & Moe Chaudhry (Canada)
TMO: Cam Russell (Canada)
