The USA Boys U18s defeated Belgium U18s 43-26 Saturday in the opening game of the 2023 Corendon Summer Tour.

Granite Bay wing Thomas Koi scored two tries for the USA team and so did West Houston Lions hooker Seth Smith. Padraig Long, Jake Schumacher, and George Hemmen added tries, with captain and flyhalf Jonty Lee converting four.

"It's been a long and excellent week of practice with huge strides made across all areas, most importantly in the bonds and chemistry between the players," USA U18 Head Coach Dominic Wareing said leading up to the game. "We want to go from a group of exciting individuals to a pretty tight-knit unit that can play some holistic rugby in all areas of the field. We talked about how win, lose, or draw let's come off the pitch with no ifs, buts, or wondering what might have been."

And they did that. The U18s handled the Belgium kicking game fairly well and while they did give up four tries, had the momentum most of the game.