NOLA Gold Rugby Club has Dino Waldren’s back for the second year of his three-year contract through the 2023 Major League Rugby season. The 30-year-old tighthead prop is 6’0″ and 260 lbs.
Dino played 909 minutes in 14 starts, scoring two tries for NOLA Gold in 2021. He also played for the USA National Team against England, Ireland, and New Zealand in 2021.
Dino started all five matches at tighthead prop for NOLA Gold during the 2020 truncated MLR season, playing 269 minutes, and scoring two tries in his first season with the club.
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, starting once, 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 22 caps (6 starts) for the USA Men’s Eagles XVs (Eagle 502), where he made his debut in 2016 against Romania. Dino played in the Americas Rugby Championships in 2017, 2018, and 2019, with the team winning consecutive titles in 2017 and 2018. His last match was against New Zealand on October 23, 2021, at FedEx Field. He has one try in international play.
