The USA Men's National 15s team will kick off Saturday afternoon against Uruguay in San Antonio with history on their side.

Captain's Run photos by Colleen McCloskey. Top to bottom: New starting flyhalf Ben Cima with Blaine Scully in support. Chris Baumann and Blaine Scully. Nick Civetta (tall guy with ball) listens at a group huddle. Cima practices his kicking. Cima and AJ MacGinty, the young guy and the really young guy. 

The Eagles are 12-2-1 against Uruguay over the course of the teams' rivalry, and even then the tale is very different at home and away. On neutral ground, the USA is 4-0, averaging 27.5 points versus 18.5. In Uruguay, the Eagles are 3-2-1, scoring 36.2 points per game (including a 60-6 win in 1989) and allowing 17.8. But at home, the Eagles dominate, scoring 32.6 per game and allowing only 11.8.

It's clear, at first glance at least, that Uruguay doesn't travel particularly well, or that the USA doesn't travel particularly well to Uruguay. Maybe both. And it's certainly true that based on these numbers, the Eagles should expect to win on Saturday in San Antonion. However, there is a "however" to this all. Those home games included a 2014 World Cup Qualifier that was distrinctly in Uruguay's favor until the final 20 minutes. It includes a 2011 RWC Qualifier in which it took a long time for the Eagles to get a cushion. During that time, Uruguay has tied the USA and beaten them (both in Montevideo).

How does that happen? A number of things, but mainly dominating in the scrum, defending so doggedly the Eagles start dropping the ball and making silly errors, thus calling for more scrums. With the scrums come penalties, and eventually yellow cards. In addition, Uruguay is always excellent at kicking goals. On Four occasions, Los Teros have kicked at least four penalty goals against the Eagles. Those games resulted in one Uruguay win, one tie, and two games won by the USA by a total of nine points. Always - always - Uruguay will beat you by kicking you to death.

So, the lesson for the Eagles? Don't get drawn into angry fights. Don't get frustrated. And stay out of penalty trouble. Catch the ball no matter what - the big break will come later - you're better off catching the ball statically and getting hit than you are going forward and risking losing the ball.

Hold the scrum up. Don't get into penalty trouble, and you do that by making sure the scrum stays solid and off the ground. Execute your lineouts. Uruguay is nowhere near as good as the USA in the lineout, so the only way there's a problem is if the throws are offline or the timing of the jumps is off. Simplify if you must, but a not straight is a blow to the stomach, because Uruguay will take the scrum every time.

And finally, if you get a break, run for all you're worth.

John Mitchell knows all of this. The USA coach has already lost to Uruguay, and saw that bad scrums, getting pulled into the Uruguay way of playing, and penalties killed his team's chances. As a result, he's chosen a team to combat this. He's picked angry, fractious back-rowers - Todd Clever, Al McFarland, and, above all, John Quill, are as grumpy a group of loose forwards as you might expect to get.

He has found strength and size up front. Tony Purpura is a huge prop, and his job will be to combat the Uruguay scrum and maul power. Chris Baumann won't back down. Those two have a ton of work to do. In the second row, he has Nick Civetta, who can handle himself in tight and in the lineout, and a mobile lock in Nate Brakeley. For the most part, this is a forward pack designed to get around the field, but also one capable of surviving the scrum. All pressure is on Peter Malcolm at hooker to get those lineouts right.

In the backs, Mitchell has resolved not to get caught without a kicker again. He's got four good to excellent goalkickers in the squad. Ben Cima is young, but as clutch a kicker as you could ever want to see. AJ MacGinty is great, too, although Cima is the one who has been kicking a lot of late. With those two on the field as starters (Shaun Davis and JP Eloff are backups), you also have two players who can hang back when Mike Te'o attacks from fullback. That will be important, because the Eagles have to win the territorial kicking game.

They've got powerful and aggressive runners out wide. Zack Test is a great runner, but it's his defense that will be most useful. Blaine Scully is brave and smart. Bryce Campbell is a terror. It's a good combination, but it's clear Mitchell has picked a team that is capable of reeling off long-range tries, but is first and foremost one that will punish penalties, and (we hope) survive the scrums.