There was only ever going to be one winner.
Two months on from his last hurrah against France, we’re still struggling to come to terms with the fact that we’ll never see Paul O’Connell in an Irish jersey again.
A warrior to the last, he had been in inspirational form before a sickening hamstring injury ended his World Cup and his international career in Cardiff and the most galling thing of all was that he was powerless to prevent the men in green from exiting the World Cup with a whimper against Argentina.
O’Connell winning the JOE Rugby Player of the Year award sponsored by Sony Xperia™ is not a sentimental choice just because he’s retired from international duty, however.
The big fella played some of the best rugby of his career in 2015 and played a captain’s role in Ireland’s second Six Nations triumph in successive seasons.
Not surprisingly, he commanded over 50% of the vote from the 7,000 or so people that voted in the poll, beating off competition from Ulster’s Iain Henderson, Connacht’s Robbie Henshaw and Leinster duo Rob Kearney and Sean O’Brien.
Congratulations on a well-deserved award Paul and make sure to put the fear of God into them down in France.
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