Blaine Scully was left proud of his side's never-say-die attitude, after they secured a historic 30-29 victory over Scotland in Houston on Saturday.
The Eagles’ win - their seventh consecutive victory - was their first over Tier 1 opponents since the 1924 defeat of France in the Olympic Games.
Despite trailing at half time, the hosts made a remarkable comeback to take the lead, and a last minute off-target conversion attempt from Blair Kinghorn saw the Eagles pick up the win.
Scully, who captained USA on Saturday, believes his side’s physicality and attitude eventually led them to the victory, and praised the pin-point kicking of AJ MacGinty and Will Hooley.
“It was probably a culmination of us doing what we wanted to do - which was putting their team under pressure, maintaining possession in the right areas of the field,” said Scully.
“We were able to get over the gain line through our big ball carriers, which is something we feel we have in spades across the team.
“That was definitely something that got us back in the game after conceding an early try but there’s full credit to the team.
“It was a reflection of what we demonstrated throughout the game, which is our ability to fight and stay in the arm-wrestle, and compete in the 80-minute contest.
“We showed the type of physicality we can bring to the tackle area, and that’s what we want to build our whole game on is how well we defend.
"How will we got out of our own half? How will we defend? How will we get the ball back.
“This will put us in the right areas of the field. We were talking about our big ball carriers, and in reverse we have people who can put in big hits.
"We were able to do that and get onto some really positive defensive sets and win the ball back. That allowed the likes of AJ MacGinty and Will Hooley to kick the ball behind and we’re in a place we want to be, which is playing rugby in their half.”
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