Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are going back to the Super Bowl in search of a sixth title and will face a Philadelphia Eagles team looking for their first Lombardi Trophy.

Connacht 50 Oyonnax 14: The road to Bilbao has now become clear for Connacht.

Niyi Adeolokun scored a first-half hat-trick as Challenge Cup Pool Five leaders Connacht ended the group campaign with a win over Oyonnax.

American Football

The New England Patriots didn’t need a comeback in their Super Bowl rematch with the Atlanta Falcons.

In Pool Five of the European Challenge Cup, Connacht made it two wins from two with an uninspiring 15-8 victory over Worcester, who suffered their ninth away defeat in a row in the competition.

Rookie kicker Younghoe Koo missed a last-gasp field goal for the second successive game as the Los Angeles Chargers lost their home opener 19-17 to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

Matt Ryan claimed an early victory over Tom Brady on Super Bowl weekend by being named the NFL's MVP last night in Houston.

The Atlanta Falcons are going to the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history after they thrashed the Green Bay Packers 44-21 in the NFC Championship game.

There will be a familiar feel to the NFL playoffs next weekend: Every divisional-round game will be a rematch from the regular season, the first time that’s happened in six years.

The Carolina Panthers’ poor start to the season continued as they crashed to a third defeat in four matches after going down 48-33 to the Atlanta Falcons.

Brett Connon is used to the sound of Callum Chick’s voice. Clubmates at Newcastle Falcons, the pair are housemates as well.

Robbie Henshaw handed Ireland an RBS 6 Nations fitness boost as Connacht thrashed Enisei-STM 47-5 to qualify for the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

Reaching bonus territory a must for Connacht

Quarterback Cam Newton threw three touchdown passes and his Carolina Panthers pummelled the Atlanta Falcons 38-0 on Sunday to earn an NFL playoff first-round bye.

Tom Brady threw for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and notched a career rushing first, leading New England to a 30-23 win over the New York Jets that kept the Patriots unbeaten this NFL season.

Wasps director of rugby Dai Young is celebrating the capture of Leinster fly-half Jimmy Gopperth for next season, believing the English side will be getting one of the best kickers in Europe.

The Dallas Cowboys blew a 21-0 lead before rallying to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-27 and move to 10-4, one game ahead of Philadelphia at the top of the NFC East standings.

US federal agents conducted surprise inspections of National Football League team doctors and trainers on Sunday as part of an ongoing probe into painkiller drug abuse, the US media reported on Sunday.

Baltimore Ravens have released running back Ray Rice hours after a shocking video surfaced showing the NFL star punching his then-fiancee.

Over the weekend, multiple hearts were broken across the NFL, as fringe players were told they wouldn’t be making their respective teams’ final 53-man squads.

That thunderclap in Dublin yesterday around quarter to four was warranted.

Leinster may have lost Jonathan Sexton to France over the summer but the province has gained an element of unpredictability at out-half which the most inventive of tens would be unable to match.

With Jonathan Sexton moving to Racing Metro next season, Leinster have been strongly linked with former Junior All Black flyhalf Jimmy Gopperth who currently plays with Newcastle Falcons in the RFU Championship.

The long-awaited Harbaugh Bowl is suddenly a reality in the NFL.

The NFL play-offs continue tomorrow with four teams left vying for a spot in next month’s Super Bowl XLVII.

Champions Munster bid to become the fourth team guaranteed a place in the B&I Cup quarter-finals when they host Plymouth Albion at Temple Hill, Cork, tonight (7pm).

The Atlanta Falcons survived one of the most outstanding comebacks in recent NFL memory, ending the Seattle Seahawks’ incredible season with a 30-28 victory that sets up an NFC Championship showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.

It’s December.

As the NFL heads into December, nearly every division race has an outright favourite.

Atlanta remained undefeated, Tom Brady won the battle of the marquee quarterbacks and Drew Brees had a record-setting day in week five of the National Football League season.

Late field goals kept the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals undefeated while Houston won a rout to also stay perfect four weeks into the season.

Hours after his younger brother’s death in a motorcycle accident, Torrey Smith caught six passes for 127 yards and scored two touchdowns to spark Baltimore to a last-play 31-30 NFL win over New England.

Newcastle Falcons have announced that following his loan spell at Saracens, former Munster and Irish scrum-half Peter Stringer has arrived at Kingston Park until the end of the season.

Off the field business has provided another unwelcome diversion from Munster’s crucial RaboDirect Pro12 clash with Cardiff Blues at Thomond Park tonight, with news of a second loan move by Peter Stringer fromSaracens to Newcastle Falcons.

A kicker’s lot is proof that, sometimes, there is an ‘I’ in ‘team’. I miss. We lose.

TOM BRADY threw three touchdowns as the New England Patriots crushed the Philadelphia Eagles 38-20 and Tim Tebow led the Denver Broncos to their fourth straight win in National Football League action on Sunday.

MICHAEL VICK had a rough return to Atlanta last night, suffering a concussion along with defeat as the Falcons beat the Philadelphia Eagles 35-31 in the Georgia Dome on Sunday night.

Edinburgh Rugby head coach Michael Bradley has made three changes to his side for tomorrow night’s visit of Cardiff Blues in the opening match of the RaboDirect PRO12 at Murrayfield.