Christopher Robert Eric Farrell (born 16 March 1993) is a former Irish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and former player for French

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

club

Oyonnax Oyonnax () is the second most populated commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Oyonnax lies in a valley of the Jura Mountains in the far north of Ain. It is near the Parc naturel régional du Hau ...

. He played as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. In 2024, he was given a four year sentence by a French court for failure to prevent a crime.

Early life

Farrell grew up in Fivemiletown, a village in south Tyrone, Northern Ireland. His initial sporting passion was

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and he played centre-half for a local team, before he started playing rugby at the age of 11 for Clogher Valley RFC in County Tyrone.

Professional clubs

Ulster

In December 2011, Farrell, then aged 18, made his Ulster debut against

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

Grenoble

At the beginning of the

2014–15 Top 14 season The 2014–15 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2013–14 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this season, Lyon and La Rochelle in plac ...

, Farrell joined 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 National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

side

FC Grenoble The Football Club de Grenoble Rugby (FCG) is a French rugby union club based in Grenoble and founded in 1892. FCG was champion of France in 1953–54 French Rugby Union Championship, 1954 and runner-up in 1992–93 French Rugby Union Championshi ...

, where

Bernard Jackman Bernard Jackman (born 5 May 1976) is an Irish former rugby union player who played for Connacht, Leinster and Sale Sharks. At international level, he has also played for Ireland. He released his autobiography, ''Blue Blood'' in 2011. He coached ...

, formerly of

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, was coach. Farrell made his debut against

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

off the bench and made his first start against

Munster

On 24 January 2017, it was announced that Farrell would be joining Irish province

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

on a two-year contract, beginning at the conclusion of the 2016–17 season. Farrell made his competitive debut for Munster on 1 September 2017, starting the provinces opening

2017–18 Pro14 The 2017–18 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as t ...

fixture against Benetton in Irish Independent Park, Cork. Farrell scored his first try for Munster in their fixture against South African side

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...

on 9 September 2017, helping the province to a 51–18 win in

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Munster Rugby and has Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park from 2013 to 2015 in the Le ...

. He was ruled out for 6–8 weeks following a knee injury sustained whilst playing for Ireland. He returned from the injury on 6 January 2018, starting in Munster's 39–13 win against

. A knee injury Farrell suffered while with the Ireland squad during the

2018 Six Nations The 2018 Six Nations Championship (known as the Natwest 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th Six Nations Championship, the annual international rugby union tournament for the six major European rugby union nations. The championship wa ...

required surgery, and subsequently ruled him out of the remainder of the 2017–18 season. He signed a three-year contract extension with Munster in October 2018. Farrell returned from the aforementioned knee injury on 25 November 2018, featuring off the bench in Munster's

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the '' ...

round 9 fixture against Italian side

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

. He scored two tries and earned the

Man-of-the-Match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in Munster's 44–14 win against

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 30 November 2018. Farrell won his 50th cap for Munster in their 35–14 away win against English club

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

in round 1 of the 2021–22 Champions Cup on 12 December 2021, and signed a two-year contract extension with the province in January 2022, but was released from the contract early in March 2023.

Oyonnax

Farrell joined French

club

in March 2023. Having joined as a medical joker, Farrell secured a two-year contract extension with the club, and went on to help the club secure promotion to the

after they defeated

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

to win the

2022–23 Rugby Pro D2 season The 2022–23 Rugby Pro D2 was the second-level French rugby union club competition, below the Top 14, for the 2022–23 season. It will run alongside the 2022–23 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rug ...

Ireland

Farrell earned his first senior international call-up in October 2017, being named in the Ireland squad for the 2017 Autumn Internationals. He made his first appearance for Ireland on 18 November 2017, starting against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. Farrell also started in Ireland's win against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, though he went off injured during the second-half. Farrell made his Six Nations debut on 24 February 2018, starting against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and earning the

award in Ireland's 37–27 win. However, a knee injury sustained during training ruled Farrell out of the remainder of the tournament. Farrell was selected in the 31-man Ireland squad for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

, having featured in the warm-up matches against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and

. During the World Cup itself, Farrel was used as a replacement in Ireland's opening 27–3 win against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and he started in their shock 19–12 defeat against hosts

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. When the 2020 Six Nations resumed in October 2020 following a delay due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Farrell featured as a replacement in Ireland's 35–27 defeat against France in their final fixture of the tournament. With the usual format of end-of-year international tests not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ireland instead participated in the

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn rugby union internationals, Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoidin ...

. Farrell started in the 32–9 opening win against Wales on 13 November, the 18–7 defeat against England on 21 November, and the 23–10 win against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

on 29 November, then featured off the bench in the 31–16 win against Scotland on 5 December, which secured a third-place finish for Ireland in the tournament. During the

2021 July rugby union tests The 2021 mid-year rugby union internationals (also known as the summer internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) were a series of international rugby union matches. Due to ongoing restrictions around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a numbe ...

, Farrell started in Ireland's 39–31 win against

, however, a head injury sustained during the game ruled Farrell out of Ireland's final test against the United States. A hip injury ruled Farrell out of the

2022 Ireland rugby union tour of New Zealand In July 2022, Ireland played a 3 match test series against New Zealand as part of the 2022 mid-year rugby union internationals. Ireland also played two matches against the Māori All Blacks. This was Ireland's first tour since their tour to Au ...

Criminal conviction

On 13 December 2024, Farrell was charged with and convicted for failing to report a rape which was alleged to have been perpetrated by his colleagues when playing for FC Grenoble in 2017. Three players from the Top 14 team were charged with the violent gang rape of a woman after a Top 14 rugby match in Bordeaux in March 2017. Farrell was present where the rape occurred and owned a pair of crutches which were used on the victim during the attack. He was given a four-year sentence with two years suspended, however he was not sent to prison and instead was ordered to wear an electronic tag for two years and to remain in France.

Statistics

International analysis by opposition

Correct as of 3 July 2021Chris Farrell
''ESPN Scrum'', 3 October 2019

Honours

Munster

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

**Winner (1):

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Oyonnax

**Winner (1):

Ireland under-18s

European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship The Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship is an annual rugby union championship for Under-18 national teams, held since 2004. The championship is organised by rugby's European governing body, Rugby Europe.2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

)

Ireland

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

: **Winner (1):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

: **Winner (1):

* Triple Crown: ** Winner (1):

References

External links

Munster ProfileIreland ProfileURC Profile
*
U20 Six Nations Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Chris 1993 births Living people Rugby union players from County Tyrone Irish rugby union players Ulster Rugby players FC Grenoble Rugby players Munster Rugby players Oyonnax Rugby players Ireland international rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players from Northern Ireland Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in France Irish expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union centres 2019 Rugby World Cup players