Stuart McCloskey has claimed Ulster must assemble a squad with the same depth as Leinster and Saracens in order to seriously challenge for trophies.

On a night when personal rivalries were under scrutiny, Ulster won the individual and collective battles against Munster to stretch their unbeaten home record at Kingspan Stadium to 19 games.

Will Addison returns from a four-week suspension for Ulster who are on a mission to avenge last year’s home loss to Connacht.

Brendan O’Brien Connacht coach Andy Friend has sounded a highly encouraging note on Bundee Aki’s contract situation.

Ulster will be without Will Addison for their back-to-back Heineken Champions Cup games with Harlequins.

Ulster squeezed out a vital 17-16 victory at Bath in their opening match in Pool Three of the European Champions Cup.

Those newcomers are among five changes by Johann van Graan to the side which lost their last Pro14 game 40-16 to the Cheetahs.

So now the real work begins. The debates over squad selection are over, at least inside the Irish camp, and now comes the business end of Joe Schmidt’s preparations for Japan and the 2019 World Cup.

Jean Kleyn: No matter what Agustin Pichot thinks, the South African-born Munster lock has qualified by right and earned his place the hard way after three years of acclimatisation in Limerick.

Joe Schmidt on ...

Devin Toner is expected to be a shock omission from Ireland’s 31-man World Cup squad.

Simon Lewis looks at how Wales and Ireland shape up ahead of their World Cup warm-up.

Johnny Sexton’s thumb sprain is not expected to stop the Ireland star facing Italy in Ireland’s opening World Cup warm-up game next month.

New Hampshire, which has not executed anyone in 80 years and has only one inmate on death row, has become the latest US state to abolish the death penalty when the state senate voted to override the governor's veto.

After years of worrying about her movie choices, Anne Hathaway is embracing having some fun as she plays a con artist in new film ‘The Hustle’. She tells Laura Harding how having a baby helped her finally let go.

Ulster confirmed that Addison had recently undergone back surgery and it "is hoped that he will return to full fitness for pre-season."

Iain Henderson bustled and hustled his way to a try in each half as Ulster barnstormed to a bonus-point victory over Scarlets to keep their Heineken Champions Cup qualifying hopes very much alive.

With the much anticipated New Zealand test looming large in the background, the opening international of the November Guinness Series always had a bit of a matinee feel to it, the prelude to the main event.

With an average of 13 internationals now scheduled in a single season, it’s clear that some tests rank higher than others, writes Donal Lenihan

With an average of 13 internationals now scheduled in a single season, it’s clear that some tests rank higher than others, writes Donal Lenihan

Ireland hopeful Will Addison has pinpointed the threat posed by Simon Zebo when Ulster face Racing 92 in their second Heineken Cup Pool 4 clash in Paris tomorrow evening.

Skipper Rory Best hailed Ulster’s second-half display as they dug in for a vital 24-10 win over Leicester Tigers to kick-start their Heineken Champions Cup campaign.

Over the past few years, no team has served as the stooge for Joe Brolly’s talent for scathing dismissal more than Galway.

Jonathan Ross doesn't expect to be handed a new series of his ITV chat show.

There’s no faulting the ambition of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness (12A).

Set largely during a blizzard along the Michigan-Canadian border, ‘Deadfall’ sends a chill of disappointment down the spine.

Sale 34 Cardiff 33

At the third time of asking, Ireland finally triumphed over arch-rivals England in the Junior World Cup in Cape Town yesterday, a victory that puts them into a final play-off for fifth place against France later this week.

Ireland’s hopes of reaching the IRB Junior World Championship semi-finals will rest on the team that broke their hearts in South Africa last night.

England U-20 20 Ireland U-20 15

THE chances of a small Co Cork village winning a prestigious European competition took a giant step closer last weekend when the head of an 11-man adjudicating panel said he and his colleagues were “very impressed” with what they saw.

CRAWLEY winger Sergio Torres fired in a stoppage-time winner to dump npower Championship side Derby out of the FA Cup and hand the non-league side a maiden fourth-round tie at Torquay last night.

Crawley 2 Derby 1

Writer and director Armando Iannucci has today confirmed he is working on a new series of The Thick of It, saying the Twitter posts on the subject were written by him.

Alex Ferguson rang the changes as Manchester United’s bid for an unprecedented quintuple took them to Derby in the FA Cup fifth round.

Paul Connolly and Jordan Stewart return from suspension as Derby take a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United tomorrow.

Derby midfielder Miles Addison has signed a new contract which will keep him at Pride Park until the summer of 2012.

LIFE cannot get much sweeter for Kevin Doyle. The Wexford-born striker has just enjoyed the kind of week he must have wished would never end: a lucrative new contract, tying him to the Royals until 2011, two goals here which brought him his half-century for the Berkshire club three years after joining and the chance to enhance his international credentials in next week’s clash with Poland.

Derby manager Paul Jewell is boosted by the return of six players for Sunday’s final Barclays Premier League game of the season against Reading.

MARK HUGHES hailed Roque Santa Cruz as one of the best natural finishers he has ever seen after the Paraguay striker ensured Derby entered the record books as the worst team in Premier League history.

Blackburn 3 Derby 1

A British security guard kidnapped by the Taliban was apparently killed as American soldiers neared the hideaway on a search and rescue mission in Afghanistan, an inquest heard today.

A spate of assaults by suspected Taliban rebels killed eight policemen and wounded an election candidate, and Afghanistan warned today that aid workers and other “soft” targets were in danger of attack ahead of elections this month.

Ian Guider