NOLA Gold Rugby Club extended Dino Waldren’s contract through the 2023 Major League Rugby season. The 29-year-old prop is 6’0″ and 255 lbs.
Dino started all five matches at tighthead prop for NOLA Gold during the 2020 truncated MLR season in his first season with the club. He originally signed a three-year contract in 2020, however, he quickly proved his value to the team, which resulted in the contract extension.
After playing with London Scottish in 2019, he joined the San Diego Legion, making his debut for the team on May 5 against the Toronto Arrows. He played in 114 minutes in six matches for the Legion, including in the MLR Shield Championship. He carried 14 times for 468 meters and made 29 tackles.
Dino is from Crockett, California, and attended De La Salle High School from 2006-2010 where he played football and rugby. From 2010-2011 he attended Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania and played football. He then transferred to Saint Mary’s College of California, attending from 2012 to his graduation in 2016, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business.
While at St. Mary’s he was a three-time All-American in rugby in 2014-2016 and the team won the D1A National Championship in 2014 and in 2015. Following his graduation, he played for Blackrock College in 2016-17 in Dublin in the Division 2A All-Ireland League. He then played professionally with the London Irish from 2017-2019 in the English RFU Championship.
Dino Waldren and USA National Team
Dino is a three-time Collegiate All-American and toured with the AIG Men’s Collegiate All-Americans to Queensland in 2016. He has 19 caps for the USA Men’s Eagles XVs (Eagle 502), where he made his debut in 2016 against Romania. His last match was against Canada on March 8, 2019. Dino played in the Americas Rugby Championships in 2017, 2018, and 2019, with the team winning consecutive titles in 2017 and 2018.
