USA Men’s Eagles named for season opener against Belgium

Head Coach Scott Lawrence and staff have named the USA Men's Eagles side to face Belgium this Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 7:30 PM ET at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This match kicks off the 2025 season for the USA Men’s Eagles as part of a three-week international series that fans can catch live on Paramount+.

Tickets are still available for the match and can be purchased at usa.rugby/tickets.

Following an intensive club season, players have assembled for training camp in North Carolina - the home of Anthem Rugby.  Kickstarting the season with a successful campaign will be critical for the team in this Rugby World Cup qualification year.

With qualification as the overarching focus, the squad are primed to take on the Belgians having seen significant cohesion on and off the pitch. With strong leadership from first-time Captain, Benjamin Bonasso and winger Nate Augspurger, who is set to receive his 50th Cap for the USA Men’s Eagles. The USA is set to welcome five debutants to the pitch. Tonga Kofe and Marno Redelinghuys have been named to the starting pack, while Tevita Naqali, Makeen Alikhan, and Chris Hilsenbeck look to make their first appearances from the bench. 

Following the first camp window, Head Coach Scott Lawrence commented, “We've had great engagement with the squad, we had 16 players arrived last week to get on track with our athlete performance staff which has been great for initial connection, and the early arrival players have been ambassadors for the others coming in this week. Overall we've seen great engagement and good intentional connection. Coming into the first test series, the focus will continue to be the real basics of the game, in our set piece, territory and exits.”

Auspurger will run into American Legion Stadium for his 50th international appearance this Saturday, a well-earned achievement on the road from his debut in 2016. Nate has been a mainstay on the USA Roster and notable leader within the squad, he will become only the 13th USA Men’s Eagle to achieve the 50 cap mark.

Lawrence said on Augspurger, “He's a tremendously gifted leader, his level of effort is second to none. We came out of training yesterday and Nate is in the locker room leading a 90-minute review of training with the backs. That's true leadership and that's who Nate is. The entire staff and players feel honored to be a part of his 50th cap, no one has worked harder for it or deserves it more than Nate.”

Fans can catch the USA Men’s Eagles in action in Charlotte again next weekend, when they take on Spain on July 12.  The three-match run will culminate in a double-header in Washington D.C., where the Men's Eagles will take on England Rugby, immediately following the USA Women's Eagles’ match v Fiji.

*denotes international debut

Scott Lawrence | Head Coach

Alama leremia | Backs And Attack Coach

Nick Easter | Forwards and Defense

Rodolfo Broggi | Lead Performance Coach

Jimmy Harrison | Head of Analysis

Matoko Noudehou | Performance Coach

Blake Bradford | Scrum Coach

Steve Brett | Skills Coach

Michael Sheridan | Athletic Trainer

Jenn Roney | Assistant Athletic Trainer

Willie Berlanga | Sports Massage Therapist

Joe Powers | Team Doctor

David Hadfield | Performance Expert 

Nick Colling | Team Manager

USA vs Belgium | July 5, 7:30pm ET

American Legion Memorial Stadium | Charlotte, NC

USA vs Spain | July 12, 7:30pm ET

American Legion Memorial Stadium | Charlotte, NC

USA vs England | July 19, 5:00pm ET

Audi Field | Washington DC