Bath fly-half Rhys Priestland believes he is not eligible for Wales after staying in the English Premiership.

Priestland, 32, has 50 caps so falls below the current 60-cap rule which stops people playing club rugby outside of Wales being selected for Test rugby.

He says he would be prepared help out in a World Cup injury crisis, but does not think it would arise.

"I don't think I am eligible," he told BBC Sport Wales "That is because of the 60-cap rule."

He added: "I honestly don't know what the situation is, I did speak about it last year but I could not get any answers so I assume (I cannot play) because I only have 50 caps."

Wales lost outside-half Gareth Anscombe to injury, leaving Rhys Patchell and Dan Biggar as the two fly-halves chosen by Warren Gatland for the World Cup in Japan.

Patchell picked up a head injury against Ireland but has flown with the squad, with Jarrod Evans the direct replacement.

Priestland could be in contention to be the next fly-half in line if there were any further injuries.

"If you asked anybody they would want to play at a World Cup," said Priestland.

"But I honestly don't know what the situation is."

There has been confusion whether the ruling applies to Priestland, because he was not officially offered a deal by a Welsh region before re-signing with Bath.

Priestland had indicated in January that he would leave his English club at the end of the 2018-19 season before later announcing in April he had signed a two-year deal.

In that three-month period, Priestland admitting he was considering a return to Wales after joining Bath from Scarlets in 2015.

But the uncertainly over the future of the Welsh regional game - with an aborted merger of Ospreys and Scarlets and rumours of a new region in the north - stopped that.

"It was an option and I did speak to a few people, but the conversations did not get any further than that," said Priestland.

"It was an absolute shambles and carnage back there. Players were out of contract and did not know what was going to happen so there was a time pressure.

"It took so long. I had a couple of months left on my contract and was under pressure from other people to make decisions and I could not get any answers.

"Hopefully that is sorted now back in Wales and they can have a bit more stability."

Priestland admits he is happy with how his club career worked out after signing with Bath until the end of the 2020-21 season.

"I have loved my time at Bath," said Priestland.

"It is a great club and I am happy I am staying here for two years."

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All pictures via Huw Evans Images.

Mike Brown says it was "heartbreaking" to miss out on England's Rugby World Cup squad and believes he is still the country's best full-back.

The 34-year-old, who won the last of his 72 caps in 2018, was involved in pre-World Cup training camps but was not named in Eddie Jones' 31-man squad.

"I tried to put everything I had on the training field, but it wasn't enough in the end," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"That's the nature of team sport and selection - it's one man's opinion."

Brown last played for England last summer but believes he remains capable of performing at the highest level.

"I feel like I'm the best English full-back, and I think I showed that last season," he said.

"I still think my game is changing and evolving all the time, and my body still feels good.

"All I can do is show on the field the player I am and the character I am. That's what I did last year [for Harlequins], so I will just keep going."

'Brown will stick to team ethos'

Brown was also involved in an off-the-field altercation with centre Ben Te'o during a team social on a training camp in Treviso, but is reluctant to go into details out of respect for the rest of the squad.

Both Brown and Te'o were dropped from the squad shortly after, although head coach Jones has yet to explain whether the incident had any bearing on their axing.

"I don't feel comfortable going into details when the guys over there are preparing for a massive tournament," Brown explained.

"People who are close to me - my friends and family, the ones who really matter - know what happened and that's the most important thing for me.

"There will be a time when I will speak about what happened. But at the moment I have always tried to stick to the team ethos.

"It's not for me to take attention away [from England's World Cup preparations] and speak about other things that went on."

'Playing for England is amazing'

Having just turned 34, Brown is unlikely to play for England again, but reflects fondly on the emotional highs and lows of an international career.

"It is amazing. For any rugby player it is the best job in the world," he said.

"We get paid incredibly well and we get to experience such amazing things doing this job.

"But what comes with that is the scrutiny and the heartache of working so hard and not getting selected for something. But that's the nature of it."

Brown also says he has no regrets about anything that went on in the training camps, insisting he did all he could to gain selection for the showpiece in Japan.

"I went into pre-season camps in the best shape I have ever been in, and trained every second of every minute. So I have no regrets at all about the past year," he added.

"On the plus side it has given me some amazing memories and quality time with my family, getting to spend more time with my son and my wife, which I haven't been able to do over the last eight years.

"You have to look at those positives. I have also become a lot closer with my Quins team-mates, which is hard to do when you are playing for England.

"I would love to have been involved with England, but I got to go on the [pre-season bonding] trip to Ibiza with the Quins guys, and be part of an environment that has grown really strong."

INVERNESS, Fla. – Some of the best super late model competitors in the Southeast will invade Citrus County Speedway this Saturday for the third running of the Full Throttle 100.

Featuring more than 30 entries, Saturday’s $10,000-to-win event is expected to be the most competitive race of the season at the quarter-mile asphalt oval.

Headlining the list of entries received thus far is national super late model touring star Stephen Nasse. The Florida native is one of the most talked about competitors in the United States. Known for his competitiveness on the track and his willingness to be blunt off of it, Nasse has momentum on his side.

Recently he swept a pair of races – a pro late model race and a super late model race – at legendary Winchester Speedway in Indiana. He’ll look to add the $10,000 bounty from the Full Throttle 100 to his bank account this Saturday.

Joining Nasse on the entry list are a few other drivers regional and national super late models fans will be familiar with.

Jeff Choquette, another Florida native who has made headlines across the country with victories in prestigious events like the Winchester 400 at Winchester Speedway and the Governor’s Cup 200 at New Smyrna Speedway, has also filed an entry for Saturday.

Another familiar name to race fans is Chris Fontaine. A veteran racer who has dabbled in NASCAR competition regularly since 2005, Fontaine is bringing the Glenden Enterprises super late model to Citrus County in the hopes of pocketing a $10,000 paycheck.

Defending Full Throttle 100 Wayne Anderson will also be in action Saturday night. Anderson famously pocketed the $10,000 top prize last year before announcing in victory lane that he planned to retire. Those plans haven’t come to fruition just yet, so he’s back in search of another trophy for his collection.

Daniel Keene Jr., the winner of the inaugural Full Throttle 100, is also scheduled to be in attendance Saturday night. Keene is the current points leader in the track’s local super late model division, something he hopes to exploit in Saturday’s main event.

Other notable entries include former NASCAR K&N Pro Series race winner Patrick Staropoli, regional stars Anthony Cataldi, Anthony Sergi and Jett Noland, as well as a number of local stars like Keith Roggen, Dave Pletcher and Mile Bell.

The front gate opens at 5:30 p.m. ET, with heat racing scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by features at 7:30 p.m. Outlet Street Stocks, Mini Stocks and Pure Stocks are also on the card for the evening.

The event is being broadcast by Pit Row TV, part of the SPEED SPORT Network. It’s also included as a bonus race for CARS Tour TV subscribers. Visit www.pitrowtv.com to watch the event live.

SEATTLE — It’s unclear how the subject came up — again — but in early July, drag-racing media outlets had a handful of drivers and crew chiefs discussing whether the NHRA nitro-powered classes should return to racing on a quarter-mile track.

Why?

Certainly, that’s the traditional length of a course, 1,320 feet. But immediately following Scott Kalitta’s fatal 2008 accident, competition was limited to 1,000 feet, where it remains today. But who’s to say the sanctioning body might not have instituted that seemingly radical change before now, anyway?

“Big Daddy” Don Garlits advocated for it months before Kalitta’s incident.

Still, the controversy keeps popping up. It seems the self-proclaimed “purists” (whoever they might be and however they might define themselves) either can’t let go of the sport’s new normal or honestly believe if they whine loudly enough quarter-mile racing will come back. The latest round of bench-racing discussions floated the idea of racing at a quarter-mile distance during select races on the Mello Yello Series tour.

It’s fine to label oneself as a purist. It’s America. Everyone is allowed to have and peacefully express opinions. But consider that in America, even as late as the 1950s and ’60s, we slept with the doors to our homes unlocked.

We didn’t use or even have seat belts in passenger cars. We had party lines on our telephones, which all were black, had dials with finger holes and were affixed to the walls. We didn’t have cellphones or computers. And life was much simpler.

But the world changed — in many cases for the better, in some ways not. But safety, practicality and convenience motivated new ways of living. And if drag racing is a microcosm of society, then it isn’t hard to understand why equipment and practices evolved. And these purists aren’t team owners who pay the bills.

In an environment of (justifiable) hand-wringing about the need to trim costs, the notion of teams racing on a quarter-mile drag strip, especially only at a few venues, is counterproductive.

Already the teams have to have a special combination to compete every summer in the oxygen-sucking thin air and high altitude at Colorado’s Bandimere Speedway, and they tolerate it because it’s once a year. But it’s almost criminal to ask crew chiefs to bounce back and forth from 1,000-foot tune-ups to 1,320-foot tune-ups.

Of course, it always means more money, the primary factor in the equation. The sanctioning body isn’t poised to raise purses. Sponsorship is harder to come by, so racers can’t expect an abundant increase there to offset more expenses. Top Fuel owner-driver Terry McMillen said, “Even if you win a race, you are still $120,000 in the hole.”

Such a move would jeopardize performance, not improve it. Two-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan said his strategy no longer is to win races but to win titles, which is more of a mental and physical shift than one might think.

He told Competition Plus’ Tracy Renck, “For us, it is about having a combination that worked through the entire year. Changing some of these races to quarter-miles and going back to 1,000-feet would change your combination. Everybody will adapt and everybody will figure it out, but it is just more time and energy spent for what?”

Moreover, technology has outpaced the tracks themselves. When racers were setting elapsed-time and speed records in the quarter-mile, they weren’t posting numbers like the ones today. The track could hold them. Today, those same racing surfaces might not. The tires may not hold them either.

For veteran Funny Car racer and 2016 champion Ron Capps, stopping the car is a major concern.

“Most tracks, their shutdown areas, you can’t add on to a lot of these tracks and it’s a safety issue to get these cars stopped,” Capps explained. “It’s not a matter that we don’t want to go fast. We would love to go 345 mph, but we just have to be able to stop. It’s like sending a Space Shuttle crew up into space with no plan to get them back to Earth.”

Antron Brown, a three-time Top Fuel champion, said he thought the quarter-mile course length should have remained, with added safety features put in place. But he said he knows with the change to 1,000-foot racing, like it or not, the die is cast.

“I honestly just don’t see how you can make it happen unless you handicap or cripple the cars somehow,” Brown said. “Where we are at now is where we have to live.”

The sanctioning body privately has considered a hybrid schedule, but it isn’t likely to adopt one. Insurance, tires, cost, pragmatism and a jumble of other factors play key roles. So the subject needs to move from hot-stove banter to far back on a cold burner.

LAS VEGAS – After retiring from full-time competition at the end of last season, Elliott Sadler has confirmed that Saturday’s Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be his final start as a professional racer.

Sadler, a winner in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series, will make his farewell appearance in a Kaulig Racing-prepared Chevrolet Camaro carrying a livery honoring Sadler’s first late model from 1993.

Prior to stepping away from full-time competition last year, Sadler competed for JR Motorsports, earning three wins and two runner-up points finishes under the command of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“This is a pretty emotional week for me. (I’m) going into my last ever time of buckling up the helmet as a professional race car driver,” noted Sadler. “I’ve got a lot on my mind. There’s a lot of emotions and a lot of memories. I know this is the final time I’ll put my seat belt on and take a green flag of a NASCAR race.

“It’s a lot to go through, but I also want to put my best foot forward and end on a strong note as well. I can’t thank Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice and everyone at Kaulig Racing for giving me this opportunity to be a part of their team,” Sadler added. “And I definitely can’t thank Nutrien Ag Solutions enough for their support of my career and my final race.”

Sadler is a four-time runner-up in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and 13-time winner in the series across 22 years of competition. Saturday will be his 397th Xfinity Series start.

At the top level, Sadler made 438 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts, with three victories, 19 top fives and 69 top-10 finishes, as well as eight pole positions. His last Cup win came in September of 2004.

But much of Sadler’s tenure has been as a veteran in the Xfinity Series, which makes it a fitting place to say his good-byes this weekend, as he closes a chapter of his life and moves forward with family.

He’ll do so in a pale yellow and red-accented machine that takes the Emporia, Va., native back 26 years, to the earliest short-track days of his career.

“I thought all of the surprises in my driving career had come to an end, until Kaulig Racing showed me my first ever late model paint scheme on the No. 10 car this weekend for what will be my final race of the year,” Sadler noted. “I’m so thankful to Nutrien Ag Solutions for allowing me to drive this car. This is the perfect paint scheme for me, personally, this weekend. It’s going to be a lot of fun to strap in one last time at a fast place like Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“The paint scheme – that was a surprise I truly wasn’t expecting. I appreciate the Nutrien Ag guys so much for doing that,” said Sadler. “It means a lot to me and my family. That paint scheme really helped kick start my career in the right direction. (It’s) kinda what we were known for back in the day. Thanks to them for giving up their paint scheme and their look – kudos to them guys. Thanks again for that.

“We’ll try to do them right and do them proud and go out on top with a bang at Las Vegas.”

If that weren’t enough, Kaulig Racing team president Chris Rice will be Sadler’s crew chief on Saturday, just like he was in the early 1990s when Rice and Sadler won the South Boston Speedway track championship together in 1995.

“It’s so awesome to have Nutrien Ag Solutions allow us and join us in running this special paint scheme from Elliott’s original stockcar days,” Rice said. “This paint scheme means so much to not only Elliott, but to his parents Herman and Bell, his family, myself, and various other fans throughout his career.

“We won tons of races with this paint scheme, and thanks to Nutrien Ag Solutions, Matt Kaulig and all of those at Kaulig Racing, we have the opportunity to go out and try to win one more.”

HOLLY, Mich. – Christian Koehler is hoping to convert the momentum of his recent career-best finish with the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series presented by Engine Pro into even more success.

Koehler, a part-time competitor with the 410ci winged asphalt sprint car tour in recent years, grabbed a top-five result Saturday at Berlin Raceway, part of a consistent performance from start to finish.

The South Bend, Ind., native qualified sixth, ran well in his heat race and then finished fifth in the 30-lap main event at the seven-sixteenths-mile oval, the first top-five finish of his Must See Racing career.

“It’s definitely a good feeling,” said Koehler of his top-five effort. “To come out here and build on the way that we ran last time, which was all right, but not quite where we want to be … and to get up in the top five and be behind guys like Jimmy and Anthony (McCune) and Jason (Blonde) is just great for a team like ours. Heck, even Charlie Schultz was up there, and he was our feature winner last time we were here, so that tells you the competition level of this series that we were in the middle of all that.

“It feels good to be up there with that company and competing, so now hopefully we can try and get that first top three or maybe even that first feature win,” Koehler added. “We’re raising the bar.”

Koehler noted that he felt the speed in his No. 10k sprinter from the moment he laid a tire onto the race track for qualifying.

“That qualifying lab was pretty impressive, but you know, I had to let off a little bit coming out of (turn) four and that hurt us,” Koehler tipped. “Otherwise, we may have even been a little bit quicker, but we did a lot of things right and a lot of things we’re proud of right now. This car definitely has been hooked up, and if we can get everything dialed in right where it needs to be, we have a chance to go for a win.

“But yes, from the start, that qualifying lap definitely gave us a lot of hope.”

Koehler was among those who was able to navigate traffic well during the 30-lap Engine Pro Fast Car Dash feature event, staying on the lead lap for the entire distance and running as high as fourth before a late caution allowed Anthony McCune to rally past him on a green-white-checkered finish.

Still, however, Koehler was pleased with the overall effort of his family race team.

“It was a little bit crowded out there, but the slower cars did a good job of keeping it in one lane so that the faster cars could make it around them,” Koehler said. “A few times, we did have a couple of close calls running up on the back of slower cars … but that’s just a learning process for me as our car gets quicker and I learn more about how to get through that lap traffic.”

With one top-five finish in hand, Koehler’s long-term goal is continued improvement.

“We’re planning to be at the next race at Jennerstown Speedway, so hopefully everything goes good this Thursday when we run non-winged in the Anderson 125-lap event and then we can get the car set up for a winged race on Saturday and go out to Jennerstown and hopefully have another solid outing.

“The goal is to build on the last race and get another top five, if not better.”

Koehler and the rest of the Must See Racing travelers, including four-time defending series champion Jimmy McCune, current series point leader Anthony McCune, Canadian hotshoe Ryan Litt, Ohio veterans Charlie Schultz and Adam Biltz, National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Jeff Bloom and more will next test their skills during the second annual David D. Mateer Tribute Race, Sept. 14 at Jennerstown (Pa.) Speedway.

Additional heavy hitters expected to make the haul to Pennsylvania include recent Berlin winner Jason Blonde, all-time series fast qualifier and two-time champion Brian Gerster and Bobby Santos III, a former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour titlist.

The lightning-quick half-mile oval is welcoming Must See Racing back for a second-straight season, after Jimmy McCune won the series’ debut appearance last year to clinch his fourth championship.

Pit gates at Jennerstown open at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with a one-hour sprint car practice session scheduled from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. in the afternoon. Sprint car qualifying begins at 3 p.m., with opening ceremonies and feature racing beginning just before 6 p.m. local time.

The Super Cup Stock Car Series will co-headline the racing card alongside Must See Racing, with late models, street stocks, chargers, modifieds and 4-cylinders also in action at Jennerstown as well.

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins have signed coach Bruce Cassidy to a multiyear contract extension, rewarding him for the team's trip to the Stanley Cup Final in just his second full season on the bench.

General manager Don Sweeney announced the extension Wednesday, a day before training camp begins. How many seasons the extension covers was not disclosed, though Cassidy reportedly had one-year left on his previous contract.

Cassidy has a 117-74 record with the Bruins, leading them to back-to-back 100-point seasons. The Bruins reached Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in June, losing to the St. Louis Blues 4-1.

Cassidy, a 54-year-old former defenseman, played 36 games over six seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks. He had a 47-53-9 record in his first head coaching stint, with the Washington Capitals from 2002 to 2004, before he was fired 25 games into his second season.

The Minnesota Wild announced that they have re-signed forward Kevin Fiala to a two-year, $6 million deal.

The 23-year-old Swiss native had 13 goals and 26 assists last season, split between the Wild and Nashville Predators.

Fiala was drafted in the first round (11th overall) by the Predators in 2014. He was traded to Minnesota for Mikael Granlund in February.

Fiala has 48 goals and 56 assists in 223 career games.