Munster A 31 Ulster A 38

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.

Quarterback Cam Newton threw five touchdown passes to lead the Carolina Panthers to a 10th straight NFL victory on Sunday, a 44-16 pounding of the Washington Redskins.

Domestic violence charges against Ray Rice were dismissed after the former National Football League running back completed a pretrial intervention programme, New Jersey prosecutors said.

The Green Bay Packers will face the Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC title game after a thrilling weekend in the NFL play-offs.

American Football

The Pittsburgh Steelers came on strong in the fourth quarter on Sunday night for a 42-21 NFL triumph over Cincinnati that blew open the AFC North division race.

Rory Best will start for Ulster against Munster in tomorrow's match at Thomond Park while Munster coach Anthony Foley has named a strong squad bolstered by a number of returning internationals.

Ulster star Andrew Trimble suffered significant ligament damage to a toe during the PRO12 game against Glasgow Warriors, it was revealed today.

Peyton Manning broke Brett Favre’s all-time record for touchdown passes, leading Denver to a 42-17 rout of San Francisco to cap a scintillating Sunday in the NFL.

Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer became the latest NFL player this week to be sidelined by his team due to off-field legal issues.

American football player Adrian Peterson has been indicted in Texas on a charge of child abuse after using a branch to discipline his son.

Before it gets grim around here, allow me to get a little sentimental.

The day after Ray Rice was cut loose from his $35m contract with the Baltimore Ravens following the release of a video showing him striking and knocking out his then-fiancee, his wife defended her husband and blasting the media for the pain caused to her family.

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

Seán O’Brien insists there will be no nostalgia around the Leinster squad as they fine-tune their preparations before next weekend’s Pro12 kick-off.

The new NFL season in the US is bringing with it more moral confusion than ever and it’s only the beginning of August.

The NFL couldn’t have scripted it much better heading into the last week of the regular season.

Ireland internationals, Craig Gilroy and Iain Henderson have recovered from injury and have been named in Mark Anscombe's starting XV for the game against Edinburgh at Ravenhill tomorrow evening.

John Riordan runs the rule over those hoping to impress in the new NFL season.

RaboDirect PRO12: Ulster v Ospreys

The loss of several key Ulster squad members to Six Nations duty has been softened for head coach Mark Anscombe with influential trio Johann Muller, Luke Marshall and Dan Tuohy returning to the squad ahead of Friday’s PRO12 meeting with the Ospreys at Ravenhill (7.05pm).

Whether or not Beyonce’s elaborate half-time show caused the subsequent power outage in New Orleans’ Superdome on Sunday night, the Baltimore Ravens’ second Super Bowl title was achieved in an electrifying manner that confirms this current era as a golden one for the sport.

You'll love this picture anyway…

Baltimore 34 San Francisco 31

Superbowl XLVII:

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.

An assessment this morning has confirmed that Ulster star Nick Williams sustained medial ligament damage to his left knee in the Heineken Cup Pool 4 win over Glasgow at Ravenhill last Friday.

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.

With the clock winding down, Ray Lewis walked to the centre of the field to soak it all in.

With the NFL play-offs kicking off this weekend, attention will be divided between three star rookies and one retiring veteran in the most wide-open football post-season in recent years.

Ulster have hit a second-row crisis after it emerged that Ireland lock Dan Tuohy suffered a pulled calf muscle and will be out until the new year.

It’s December.

Ulster hooker Rory Best is targeting a return to action for the Heineken Cup third round clash with Northampton on December 7.

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

Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes on Sunday to help Pittsburgh beat the New York Giants 24-20 in an NFL game played with Hurricane Sandy’s devastation as a backdrop.

When Peyton Manning talks about his football mortality, acknowledging his physical shortcomings and scoffing at the notion that he plays as he did in his prime, it all makes perfect sense.

Roger Wilson and Declan Fitzpatrick have been named in the extended Ulster squad for Friday's RaboDirect PRO12 game against Dragons at Rodney Parade (7.05pm), while there was further good news with Stephen Ferris returning after missing the province's opening two Heineken Cup games.

As the kick-off was dropping into Jacoby Jones’ hands deep in his end zone, every Baltimore Ravens fan in the stadium and Dallas Cowboy on the pitch expected him to take a knee.

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.

Ulster Ravens 17 Munster A 19

Mark Anscombe has made seven changes to the starting team for the visit of Munster to Ravenhill tomorrow night (7.05pm).

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