The Munster and Ireland second row played every minute of Ireland's successful defence of their 6 Nations title, winning his 100^th Irish cap against Wales and crossing for his 7^th international try against Scotland.
O'Connell was one of three Irish players nominated for the accolade, alongside his Munster team-mate Conor Murray and Connacht's Robbie Henshaw.

The talismanic Irish captain will join Ireland Women's captain Niamh Briggs in parading both 6 Nations trophies on the pitch at half-time during tomorrow's PRO12 clash with Connacht at Thomond Park.

Throughout the Championship, each player was awarded (or deducted) points based on statistical performance across different action categories that cover all aspects of the game.

To ensure fairness, 6 Nations analysts weighted the importance of different actions depending on different positions. Those categories were collated to give each player an overall performance score from which the award shortlist was determined.

The initial shortlist included:

Biggar, Dan (WAL)
Ford, George (ENG)
Gray, Jonny (SCO)
Henshaw, Robbie (IRE)
Hogg, Stuart (SCO)
Jones, Alun Wyn (WAL)
Joseph, Jonathan (ENG)
Murray, Conor (IRE)
O'Connell, Paul (IRE) - WINNER
Parisse, Sergio (ITA)
Vunipola, Billy (ENG)
Youngs, Ben (ENG)

Check out the pictures from Ireland's victory over Scotland and the back-to-back 6 Nations Championship celebrations here.