The USA Men's 15s team defeated Belgium 36-17 in a game that was, at times, an indication of a superior Eagles side and, at times, showed that there is work to do.

The USA team and fans at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, NC celebrated Nate Augspurger's 50th cap, and  indeed looked like they would score in the opening minutes.

But a tenacious Belgian defense and some little miscues made scoring difficult for the USA.

Both teams were tackling well, and it was interesting to see how the Eagles wanted to play—a lot of passing, a lot of ball movement, and, this early in this assembly, some passes too far behind or too far in front.

Belgium, meanwhile, looked to shake up the Eagles with physicality and doing little things to get under their skin. And they had a kicking game, with little chips over the top giving them some opportunities.

It was a little chip and chase that helped lead to Belgium's opening points, a 40-meter penalty goals from flyhalf Hugo de Franco. 

It wasn't until 25 minutes in that the USA was finally able to get on the scoreboard. A strong run from debutant Marno Redelinghuys got them close and while Belgium was able to kick clear, they were still under pressure. A series of penalties for the USA followed. Finally they mauled it close to the line, and then zinged a pass out to Dom Besag, who scored untouched.

AJ MacGinty converted that try, and with those two points, advanced past 400 in test points scored at 401. He would end the day with 405.

There was bad news, however. Just before the try, USA lock Sam Golla had to leave with an arm injury. Makeen Alikhan came on for his first cap, but you had to wonder if that would shake up the USA's qi.

The Eagles continued to try to work the ball whenever they got a turnover. They added in some kicks, but were frustrated repeatedly by some excellent cover work from Belgian fullback Matias Remue, and also by mistakes.

Finally, with the first half almost up, the USA added another try.

A lovely series of passes involving MacGinty, Cory Daniel at flanker, Redelinghuys to up a superb try for Vili Helu. MacGinty converted and it was 14-3 at halftime.

The expectation was that the USA would build on that lead, but instead a kick ahead and chase early in the second half saw Remue score a well-taken try. Now it was 14-10.

But that try seemed to energize something in the Eagles team. Mitch Wilson and Tevite Lopeti combined for a hard-running try in the corner. Then the Eagles started to get some turnovers and the passes started to go to hand a bit more. Working to field a kick the USA got going with wing Toby Fricker

The Eagles worked quickly off the ruck, running some nice interplay between MacGinty, Daniel, and Alikhan to see Alikham get the return pass to score. MacGinty converted that one for a 26-10 lead.

A penalty and lineout and maul resulted in Daniel snaking off the side to score in the corner—MacGinty's conversion hit the post. And then strong runs from Lopeti, Alikhan, and Benja Bonasso put the captain over.

It was 36-10 and the USA was in control. The final minutes weren't pretty. A poor kick chase and poor understanding of the urgency of the situation allowed Belgium to score on a kick counter from 98 meters. They almost gave up another try as the bench didn't bring as much energy as needed.

However, they did hold on to win it 36-17.