This article on Paul O'Connell and Question of Sport originally appeared on Balls.ie in October 2016
Ever since Paul O'Connell confirmed on the Late Late Show that he got "in and around" 500 points in his Leaving Cert, we were been confident he would someday shine on the biggest stage of all - Question of Sport.
Yet nobody expected this. The BBC touted this as possibly the greatest moment in the programme's history. When you consider that Question of Sport began around the time JFK was assassinated that is a big claim.
It's difficult to describe but this segment was similar to a game of hangman, where the teams are expected to identify “a sporting venue, team, person, term – anything to do with sport”.
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Paul O'Connell on Question of Sport: A match made in heaven
We'll allow Sue Barker to describe. Watch Paulie deliver. Matt Dawson was running scared at the other end. AP McCoy was flabbergasted. Leon Osman seemed mildly impressed.
Paul O'Connell's mind blowing answer is one of the greatest feats we've ever seen in sports trivia.
Strangely, O'Connell was not given BBC Sportsperson of the Year in 2016 for this feat.
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Paul O'Connell's life now
O'Connell is a former Irish rugby union player and coach. He retired from rugby back in 2015, where at the time he was Ireland's third most-capped player with 108 appearances for the men in green. Throughout hs career he captained Munster, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions.
Since retiring, O'Connell has not left the sport completely, he is currently the forwards coach for the Ireland rugby national men's team.
Paul has also enjoyed a career stint in punditry. He joined BBC Sport as a pundit and commentator back in 2017 for their coverage of the Six Nations, he went on to work for them once again before joining ITV Sport in 2019 to offer his expertise at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
To find out more about Paul O'Connell's life both inside and outside of rugby, his autobiography 'The Battle' is available to buy on Amazon here.
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