Downtime With… Tomas Cubelli 'Tomas Lavanini Calls Me Dobby, After The Elf From Harry Potter'

The Argentina scrum-half talks Brumbies, beekeeping and being a barista

- Alan Dymock

How does it feel to relax after a busy season?

We did a lot of traveling this year. We went to New Zealand a couple of times, Australia, South Africa, Japan. We’ve covered a lot of miles, particularly as the Jaguares made the final (of Super Rugby) so we had one extra trip.

What stood out at the World Cup?

I think the kindness and respect of the people in Japan. Everyone at the hotels and training fields – every place we went, people were awesome to us.

The Jaguares’ pre-season starts on 25 November. How do you chill before?

Maybe I’ll go to the family farm. There’s our honey business, so I may help a bit there. Nothing serious but give a hand if it’s needed and enjoy being out of the city.

Wait, you have a honey business?

Yes, and we have some cattle. I don’t do the beekeeping as I have more to do with rugby, but if needed I can be close.

Most of my life I’ve been in Buenos Aires, and a lot of people there have a main job in the city and then do some farming when they have time off.

I’d go to the farm for the holidays. Maybe it will be a part of my life when I finish.

What are your memories of living in Australia?