NOLA Gold Rugby Club added Cameron Falcon for the remainder of the 2023 Major League Rugby season. Cam, born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, is 29 years old, 6’1″, and 265 lbs. He provides versatility in the front row as he plays hooker and tighthead prop.
With Pat O’Toole out with a concussion and Eric Howard having a knee injury, Matt Harmon has stepped in as hooker, but the team needed another hooker as Alex Lopeti needed to play blindside flanker. The team added Cam to the match day 23 against San Diego Legion and he was inserted in the 78th minute at hooker. The weekend before, he helped New Orleans RFC advance to the D2 Club Nationals Final 8.
Cam was signed with NOLA Gold for 2021 but opted out of the season to complete his law degree in 2021. He played for New Orleans Rugby Club and also won the 2021 Robert Markel Cup with Gretna Krewe Rugby Club over the Pontchartrain Po-Boy Rugby Club. He also re-signed with the team in 2022 but did not play.
During the Covid-19 shortened 2020 season, Cam played 73 minutes in 4 matches. In 2019 he played 453 minutes in all 16 matches starting once. He had 63 ball carries, gained 253 meters, and scored one try. In 2018 he played 393 minutes in 8 matches, starting 4 times.
Cam attended Archbishop Shaw High School and played rugby for the team from 2004, while he was in 6th grade until he graduated in 2011. He also played football and wrestled while there. However, it was rugby where he would gain notoriety, becoming a High School All-American from 2009-2011.
Cam then attended Louisiana State University from 2011 through his graduation in 2015 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. He played rugby while there and also continued through the USA Rugby age-group ladder.
In 2012 he was honored as a USA Rugby Junior All-American. He captained the USA Rugby Under-20s against Canada. He also played in the World Rugby U20 Trophy competition for the USA.
In 2013 his USA Rugby progress continued and he played for the USA Selects in the Americas Rugby Championship. That Spring, he attended Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Gavin Hickey, Cam’s Coach for the USA Jr. World Trophy competition, commented on the Dartmouth RFC tour to Ireland to play Trinity College.
In 2014, after his LSU season concluded, he began his playing time with New Orleans RFC. In 2015 he played with the Taranaki Academy in New Zealand. He discussed his time in New Zealand with Curtis Reed of This is American Rugby.
In 2016 Cam was selected for the Eagles Men’s Training Team for the Americas Rugby Championship. He was considered for matches against Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay, however, unfortunately, he did not gain a test cap.
In 2016 Cam played two matches for the Ohio Aviators before joining PRO Rugby’s Sacramento Express. In the early part of the season, he was a reserve and spot starter behind Canada International Ray Barkwill, but with the June internationals and then an injury to Barkwill, he started in matches against San Diego Breakers, Denver Stampede, Ohio Aviators, San Francisco Rush, Denver Stampede, & Ohio Aviators, to name a few.
Later in 2016, he tried to improve his game by going to New Zealand, attending the Taranaki Academy, playing with the Johnsonville Hawks, and then getting a trial with the Wellington Lions.
In the 2018 Major League Rugby season, Cam played tighthead prop and also played hooker when the need arose for NOLA Gold. His switch to prop gained him the attention of the U.S. National team and he was selected to the USA Rugby Selects for the Americas Pacific Challenge. For the Selects, he played tighthead prop and hooker in matches.
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