A hat trick by Southwest Florida Copperheads winger Andre Williams was the difference between the sides as USA beat South Africa 38-18 in their opening men’s senor international at Centurion Rugby Club, Pretoria.

In warm conditions, the visitors started impressively, former professional Daniel Vidot opening the scoring on his debut in the fourth minute, Williams and second-rower Wes Piggins giving the Hawks an early 16-0 lead. The Rhinos responded and C-Jay Strauss’s try just before half time made it 12-20 at the break.

Hawks skipper, Peter Lupton, said: “We coped well with the travel and it was a good match. The Rhinos are a physical side and stuck to it for the full eighty minutes and never packed up. Our debutants did well getting us over the gain line but we went away from the game plan a couple of times and that cost us, we need to be more respectful of possession.”

Livewire USA hooker Mason McCrory crossed at the start of the second half to go with his three goals but again the Rhinos hung in, Crisjan Meyer again cutting the deficit just before the hour. But USA finished strongly, with Williams sealing his treble and late tries for Derek Lipscomb and scrum half Ryan Bannerot.

Rhinos’ co-captain, prop C P Louw, commented: “We knew it was going to be physical early on but the boys stuck together, there were just some small errors that we made and I think we can regroup. Our new players stepped up and I think the next game will be a different picture, we know we have to shift the ball to expose them.”

The second Test will be played on Saturday at Grizzlies Rugby Club, Pretoria.