After Storm Passes, Spain Blows USA Away
In Charlotte, underdog visitors make example of Eagles ahead of England matchup
Spain’s Lions stormed into Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 12 looking to avenge a 23-26 loss against the USA Eagles last November. The Eagles were coming off a convincing win a week earlier against Belgium; the Lions have had a turbulent 2025 with big wins against Portugal and the Netherlands and two thrashings at the hands of Georgia.
The match capped off a thrilling day of international test rugby which saw New Zealand trounce France 43-17 at home, England squeeze by Argentina 22-17 away, Portugal get destroyed by visiting Ireland 106-7, Wales end its 18-match losing streak with a 31-22 away win against Japan, Uruguay demolish Romania 70-8 at home and a touring Belgian side edge out Canada 25-18.
The Lions started off strong against the Eagles and although the home side launched some threatening counterattacks, the Lions managed to keep their lead throughout, earning a 31-20 victory.
The match nearly never started. The threat of thunderstorms had loomed all day in Charlotte as temperatures rose into the 90s and clouds hovered and darkened overhead. Just minutes before the scheduled kickoff time, lightning struck less than ten miles away and the stadium was emptied per weather protocol. The match was delayed for two hours, and while most of the crowd took shelter in a nearby multi-story parking lot, some fans simply headed home. Once the match got underway at 9:30 pm, 6175 had re-entered American Legion Memorial Stadium, a record for rugby in this venue.
(Your correspondent preparing for a night of rugby. Credit: Malcolm Beith)
(In spite of the thunderstorms that delayed the match for two hours, 6175 fans attended the match in Charlotte, North Carolina. Credit: Malcolm Beith)
The Lions struck early, stealing the ball from the Eagles out of a ruck right after the kickoff and forcing a scrum. Lions scrum-half Estanislao Bay took a look to the blind side and saw an opening, kicking it ahead for wing Martiniano Cian to chase. Only 1:41 into the match, Cian picked up the ball in stride and touched it down in the corner for the Lions’ first try. Inside Center Gonzalo Lopez Bontempo’s kick curled between the posts and the visitors led 7-0.
Capitalizing on the Eagles’ handling errors and their failure to gain territory either through kicks or breaks through the backline, the Lions kept the momentum for the first 35 minutes of the match, scoring two more tries, in the 16th minute and 22nd minute. The Lions stole several Eagles lineouts, adding to the home side’s misery.
(Spain’s Lions steal a USA lineout. Credit: Malcolm Beith)
The Lions’ backs passed to each other and gained territory with grace and open space while the Eagles seemed to encounter a solid defense everywhere on the pitch in spite of their efforts to break free. The Lions’ second try developed when Eagles fullback Mitch Wilson slid to recover a kick but mishandled the ball, knocking it back into his own 22 for the Lions to kick and chase. Spanish scrum-half Bay dove on the ball for the try.
(Neither side dominated the scrums. Credit: Malcolm Beith)
The Lions’ third try began with a slick cross-kick to Gauthier Minguillon on the wing, who cut inside before tossing the ball outside to fly-half Gonzalo Vinuesa who offloaded to Lopez for the try. Lopez was near-perfect with his kicks on the night, converting all of the Lions’ tries and adding a penalty kick in the second half to his tally.
With halftime approaching, the Eagles kicked into gear, putting the Lions on the back foot in their own territory. Eagles’ captain, flanker Benjamin Bonasso scored a try in the 34th minute after a dash down the wing by wing Toby Fricker, and fly-half AJ McGinty placed the conversion through the posts.
(The Eagles were left grounded as the Lions soared in lineouts. Credit: Malcolm Beith)
Another run down the wing by Fricker, followed by a pass inside and a knock-on-saved-by-a-tap-pass from Eagles’ scrum-half Ruben de Haas to fullback Wilson put the Eagles forwards in a position to go for a series of pick ‘n go’s to increase the pressure on the Lions’ defense, and after a couple of minutes of goal-line efforts, Bonasso went over for another try. The conversion was good and in spite of the awful start, the Eagles trailed 21-14 at the half.
The Eagles simply couldn’t maintain their momentum from the end of the first half, and even though the crowd kept them in the game when they seemed to have drifted out of it, they couldn’t capitalize on their long kicks and continued to commit handling errors and lose lineouts. The Eagles ended up winning only 58 percent of their own lineouts, with the Lions winning 75 percent. They closely matched the Lions in scrums won (6 to 8) and equaled the visitors on possession time (49 percent to 51) until the last 10 minutes, when the Lions enjoyed 70 percent of possession of the ball. Both teams conceded 7 penalties, and while the Eagles won more rucks (62 to 57) the Lions won far more mauls (6 to 1). The Eagles’ 89 carries for 383 meters surpassed the Lions’ 75 carries for 179 meters, but in the end, the Lions clearly ran the ball with more efficiency, organization, strategy and purpose.
(Spain’s Lions proved to be far superior in the mauls. Credit: Malcolm Beith)
McGinty’s two second-half penalty kicks kept the Eagles in the game but a try by the Lions’ No. 8 Raphael Nieto in the 79th minute sealed their fate.
After the loss, Eagles Head Coach Scott Lawrence commented, “The early 21 point lead was self-inflicted on our part. We were able to climb our way back into the game, but ultimately Spain were a bit more accurate than we were tonight.”
The Eagles will face England at Washington DC’s Audi Field on Saturday, July 12, part of a doubleheader also featuring the USA Women’s Eagles against Fiji. USA vs England will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+. The women’s match kicks off at 2 pm and the men’s at 5 pm. Spain will play Canada on Friday July 18 as part of the same summer series. Argentina plays Uruguay at home in a separate friendly.
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Eagles Coach Lawrence said that he and his staff would “look at our preparation for England a bit differently. Results on the night come down to how we prepare during the week, so we'll look at the way we prepared for this game and what lead us to ultimately not the performance we wanted."
