Cork homecoming 'one of the proudest moments' for Ireland U20 Barrett

Ireland U20 scrum-half Christopher Barrett is more in love with rugby than ever

Fri, 06 Mar, 2026 - 07:58

Simon Lewis

Virgin Media Park holds a special place in Christopher Barrett’s heart given his success there with CBC, but playing there as an Ireland Under-20 international is a unique honour for the UCC scrum-half.

Ireland return to Cork this Saturday as their U20 Six Nations campaign continues against Wales in their penultimate championship fixture of 2026. Andrew Browne’s side roll back into home advantage on the back of a milestone victory over England in Bath that renews hope of a title bid if their opening-round conquerors and defending champions France come a cropper in their remaining games against Scotland and the English.

It is not merely hope that has been reignited following that come from behind win at The Rec that saw Ireland overturn a 14-7 half-time deficit to run out 31-21 victors. Barrett and his team-mates are on the up and up following a chastening first-round defeat to the French in Perpignan, though the scrum-half made his mark with two tries in the 50-21 defeat, the first Irish scrum-half to score twice in the U20 Six Nations since a certain Craig Casey did so against Italy in 2019.

A 30-27 win in Cork against Italy a week later on February 13 was a step in the right direction as Barrett returned to the ground where he helped Christians win the Munster Schools Senior Cup the previous March, but the victory over England saw Ireland finally click into top gear and with that baseline set at a high level, head coach Browne and his assistants are not allowing their players to rest on their laurels.

A training session with Andy Farrell’s senior squad at Aviva Stadium last Thursday provided the ideal reality check, the Under-20s number nine told the Irish Examiner.

“We were very happy coming off the win over England and then a bit of a break before training with the seniors,” Barrett said.

“Training with the seniors really got us back into it and it reminds you like how good, how good the world-class players are and why they are one of the top teams. Like they pushed us and they pushed us to our limits even though it's just training, it wasn't a full contact match but they make us back our work ethic and like all our habits and stuff and yeah, it was good.

“All our coaches give us praise where it's due but they don't overdo it. Like they still make sure we work and we all know it ourselves, like we know the job's not done yet and we still have two more to go but the momentum is nice now and just after Italy and England game, we want to keep the momentum going.”

LEARNING: Craig Casey, left, and Jamison Gibson-Park with James O'Dwyer and Barrett during an open training session at the Aviva. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Coming back to Cork provides an ideal platform to continue that objective and Glounthaune native Barrett cannot think of a better place for him and the Ireland team to be after a memorable first outing there in green against the Italians.

“I must say it's definitely one of the proudest moments in my life, yeah, it definitely is my dad's anyway, that's for sure but it's brilliant. I love Musgrave Park, I love the astro, I love how quick and fast it is and I suppose just playing all my Senior Cup and Junior Cup games there throughout my years in Christians, I kind of do know that like the back of my hand. Now, it is very unpredictable still every time you go out there, you don't know which way the wind's going to swirl and what the weather's going to be like but it's brilliant, I love it and there's a real homely and family atmosphere there and you do just get that and the support and it was brilliant last time.

“I hope we can just get that out there again.”

Barrett has progressed from minis with Midleton to Cork Con to Christians and now onto Energia All Ireland League 1B with UCC, having embarked on a finance degree. Yet his rugby ambitions are not yet fulfilled and a career in the professional game is his ultimate objective.

“Yeah, definitely, I would love to do it, it's been a dream ever since a kid. I know as a kid, like it was normal to say, ‘oh, I'd love to be a rugby player’ and you sometimes get the thought, ‘oh, am I going to grow out of this’ but I still want to be a rugby player. People kind of roll the eyes and say ‘come on now’, but like this 20s championship and just through the years, like I've only fallen more and more in love with rugby and it is really all I want to do, so hopefully.

“I'd love to stay with Munster of course, so hopefully, that's my pathway with it and then obviously, long term, I'd love to play for the Irish seniors, like that is the end goal.”

The immediate focus, however, remains on putting in a performance for Ireland against Wales on Saturday.

“It's just building on that last performance, like everybody knows what we can do now, so we don't want to drop the standard. We want to build on that again because I know there's even more within us to go out and do it.

“And obviously the whole championships, depending on other games as well with France, like but we'd love to try and catch them, I know there's the points difference but we can just get that through tries.

“So it is really about pushing on, like don't get complacent. Don't get like, ‘oh we had a good win there, we don't know if we're going to catch France now’, or ‘we can settle for second place’. We really want to push on and try and still win it. I know obviously depending on their matches France can still win it but it’s still within our reach”