Paul O'Connell's mother has won a newspaper competition - with the prize of a trip to see her son play in Ireland's crunch Rugby World Cup game against France.

Shelagh O'Connell was randomly selected as winner from thousands of entries to a competition in the Irish Examiner.

When the newspaper contacted her to check if she was free to travel Mrs OÂ’Connell said: "Yes". But she then asked "Is it OK if I am Paul OÂ’ConnellÂ’'s mother?".

She says that normally Paul only gets a ticket allocation on match days. By winning the competition she's got the peace of mind of having her travel and accommodation and match tickets sorted well in advance.