Tomás Maria Cubelli (born 12 June 1989) is an Argentine professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who plays as a scrum-half for Pro D2 club Biarritz and the Argentina national team.

Club career

Cubelli began his career with Belgrano Athletic Club, a rugby club based in Belgrano, Buenos Aires, the same club his father,

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, played for. After the introduction of an Argentinian team into South Africa's

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

in 2010, Cubelli joined the team that would be eventual champions in 2011. Cubelli played seven games for Pampas XV scoring one try in the process during their undefeated campaign in the 2011 Vodacom Cup. Pampas XV defeated the

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls) is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfe ...

14–9 in the final in the

North West province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

Olën Park Olën Park, also known as Profert Olën Park for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium in Potchefstroom, South Africa. It was used for rugby union matches by the Leopards The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species ...

, Potchefstroom. In 2012, Cubelli played all seven of the seven games Pampas XV competed in during the

2012 Vodacom Cup The 2012 Vodacom Cup was played between 10 March and 18 May 2012 and was the 15th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions, ...

, scoring two tries. In 2013, however, Cubelli scored three tries in only eight games including one in the

Quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

against the Pumas. Pampas XV lost 44–37. In November 2015, after current

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

and Australia national team scrum-half Nic White left the club for French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

club Montpellier, the Brumbies, an Australian, Canberra-based Super Rugby franchise, signed Cubelli on a two-year deal as his replacement. Cubelli was a significant part of the Brumbies squad during 2016, his first Super Rugby season. And earned high praise from coach

Stephen Larkham Stephen Larkham (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian rugby union professional player, currently in the role of head coach for Brumbies. He spent his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the pro ...

, who described the Argentinean as the best running scrum-half in Brumbies history. Cubelli made his debut in

round 1 Round 1 may refer to: * ''Round 1'' (EP), a 2011 EP by C-REAL * "Round 1" (song), a 2010 song by Dalmatian * ''Round 1'', an album by Eraser vs Yöjalka * Round One Entertainment , stylized as ROUND1, is a Japan-based amusement store chain. ...

of the 2016 season against the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

, scoring a try and helping the team to a 52–10 victory at

GIO Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports ven ...

, Canberra. Cubelli's second try of the season came in

round 11 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...

against the Bulls of

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

. The Brumbies won 23–6 at home. Cubelli scored his third and final try of the 2016 season against Australian Super Rugby conference rivals, the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competitions ...

round 15 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...

at home once again, and put the scoreline to 34–17 and eventually help the Brumbies to win the match 43–24. After a very successful debut season in 2016, Cubelli's 2017 season was much less memorable, having only played three matches the entire season in part due to a knee injury he suffered during pre-season.

round 16 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...

against the Reds,

round 17 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...

against the Chiefs and the

Qualifying final The Australian Football League finals series, more generally known as the AFL finals, and known from 1897 until 1989 as the Victorian Football League finals series or VFL finals, is a playoff tournament held at the end of each AFL season to deter ...

against the Hurricanes. After being injured during 2017 and not playing many minutes throughout the Brumbies' campaign, Cubelli subsequently left the club for his native Argentina for the following season, signing a contract until the end of 2019. In October 2020 Cubelli was signed by Australian Super Rugby side

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. F ...

to play in the

2021 Super Rugby AU season The 2021 Super Rugby AU season (branded as Harvey Norman Super Rugby AU for sponsorship reasons) was a professional club rugby union tournament organised by Rugby Australia. Announced on 11 November 2020, the tournament was the second season of ...

and

Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (known as Harvey Norman Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in Australia and Sky Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in New Zealand) was a professional men's rugby union club competition in Australia and New Zealand. It featured the five S ...

International career

Cubelli made his international debut against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

during the 2010 South American Rugby Championship in

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Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Cubelli was a part of the fourth placed Argentina team at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. An important player for Argentina during the 2015 Rugby World Cup, he was second choice scrum-half for most of the tournament behind Martín Landajo, however, Cubelli started in three of the seven games for Argentina, against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, against

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in which cubelli scored a try, and one in the

third place match A third place match, game for third place, bronze medal game or consolation game is a single match that is included in many sporting knockout tournaments to decide which competitor or team will be credited with finishing third and fourth. The tea ...

against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in which they were defeated 24–13 at the

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London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Cubelli scored two tries in the Pool stages, but unfortunately he could not help Argentina to a place above third. Cubelli was a starter for the national team on 14 November 2020 in their first ever win against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Career statistics

Club summary

References

External links

* * Los Pumas �
Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cubelli, Tomas 1989 births Living people Rugby union players from Buenos Aires Argentine rugby union players Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentina international rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Belgrano Athletic Club rugby union players Pampas XV players ACT Brumbies players Argentine expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Australia Jaguares (Super Rugby) players Western Force players Biarritz Olympique players 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players