Ben Te'o's decision to call time on his England career by moving to French side Toulon "stinks", says former England back Ugo Monye.

The New Zealand-born centre, 32, signed a short-term deal with the French Top 14 side shortly after being left out of Eddie Jones' World Cup squad.

It means Te'o, who was involved in an off-field altercation at an England camp earlier in August, cannot be called up as an injury replacement.

"I'm disappointed," said Monye.

"I think it is borderline disrespectful. For me, playing for your country is the pinnacle. It is something that millions of people dream of doing and only a few get a chance to do so.

"You can't come and swear allegiance to the country and then the moment things get a bit bumpy, catch the next flight to the south of France. It doesn't sit well with me at all."

Te'o switched from rugby league to union in 2014 and won his first England cap two years later.

Since then, he had been continually picked by Jones but the former British and Irish Lion is now reportedly set to play for Japanese side Sunwolves after his Toulon contract is finished.

Te'o was without a club after leaving Premiership side Worcester at the end of last season, but Monye does not think this excuses his behaviour.

"I know he doesn't have a club and he doesn't have finance, but I'm sure he could have offered his services to a Premiership club as a World Cup joker, he could have got a club," he added on BBC Radio 5 Live's Rugby Union Weekly.

"There are those sitting on standby waiting for a phone call and keeping fit because the World Cup is something they all want to be part of. After the patience and investment that was put into him, to effectively stick his fingers up to the Rugby Football Union is not great.

"England have been great to him and my understanding is that he did not make a phone call to let them know he was off to Toulon, I think that is poor."

'Willi Heinz will want to be number one'

Te'o's absence from the World Cup squad came as a surprise to some, as did Gloucester scrum-half Willi Heinz's inclusion in the 31-man group.

England head coach Jones tried out several number nines as back-up for starter Ben Youngs and eventually settled on 32-year-old Heinz before the World Cup warm-up matches began.

And after Youngs put in a shaky performance during England's 57-15 win against Ireland, experienced England scrum-half Danny Care, who was left out of the squad, said Heinz "is not there to make up numbers".

"If he is in the best form as a scrum-half between him and Ben, he is gong to play," added Care.

"I think Ben would understand that. I think Ben would have to play quite poorly and Willi would have to play well when he came on for that to happen.

"But Willi Heinz will want to be number one. If Ben has another game like at the weekend, then you never know, Willi is knocking on the door and will be asking questions of the coaches."

Mako Vunipola is set to miss England's final Rugby World Cup warm-up game against Italy with a hamstring injury.

The prop suffered a small tissue tear against Ireland, shortly after making his long-awaited comeback from another hamstring problem.

He is only expected to be out for around 10 days which shouldn't affect his involvement in the World Cup.

Exeter's Ben Moon has been called up as cover ahead of the match at St James' Park, Newcastle on Friday 6 September.

Moon is part of the squad flying to Treviso on Wednesday for another warm-weather training camp, with Charlie Ewels, Matt Kvesic and Joe Marchant - who are not part of the World Cup squad - also involved.

Meanwhile England still hope wing Jack Nowell will be fit to travel to the World Cup, despite Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter admitting he was "touch and go" for the showpiece in Japan.

Despite cautious optimism from the England camp, Nowell's recovery from the ankle injury suffered in the Premiership final in May has been far from smooth.

Earlier this month, the player admitted he pushed himself "too hard" in a bid to be fit for the World Cup.

England had expected him to feature in part of this month's warm-up schedule, but now accept he will only be available for the opener against Tonga on 22 September at the earliest.

With Ruaridh McConnochie also recovering from injury, Jonny May, Anthony Watson and Joe Cokanasiga are the only fit wingers in the squad.

DUQUOIN, Ill. – The Illinois boys – Springfield’s Kelly Kovski and El Paso’s Ryan Unzicker – are headed to the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds to carry on their momentum from their last appearance in the ARCA Menards Series.

Both spent the entire day among the top 10 throughout the first of two annual dirt track races on ARCA’s 20-race schedule, with Kovski coming across the stripe sixth and Unzicker finishing ninth at the Illinois State Fairgrounds despite a last-lap spin off of turn four.

Both drivers are noted dirt track experts. Kovski has years of experience racing dirt modifieds in Illinois, while Unzicker is one of the Midwest’s top dirt late model competitors.

They know how to get around a dirt oval as well as anyone, but the fact that both are still hunting for their first series victory shows just how hard it is to transition from the purpose-built modifieds and late models to the heavier, bulkier ARCA cars.

It also highlights just how competitive it is at the front of the ARCA field.

“It is really tight at the front of the field for these ARCA races right now,” Unzicker said. “It doesn’t really matter if some of these young kids have any dirt experience or not. They are really talented and they’re going to pick up on it really quickly. Sometimes all they need is a 30-minute practice session and they’re set.”

ARCA’s two traditional dirt races have always been a challenge for those without a lot of dirt experience. Over the years, the dirt has allowed drivers who didn’t have a lot of success on pavement to find a path to victory lane.

Dirt specialists like the late Dean Roper, Billy Thomas, and Bob Hill have all scored victories on the Magic Mile at the DuQuoin State Fair.

But to prove Unzicker’s point, drivers like Parker Kligerman, Grant Enfinger, and Austin Theriault have scored wins in ARCA’s dirt races without a lot – or any – previous dirt track experience.

“It can be a challenge for them when the track is wet and heavy and we’re really moving dirt,” said Unzicker. “But come race time, the track has taken a lot of rubber and it has really slicked off. It’s almost like you’re on pavement then. You aren’t out there sliding around. You are driving it like it’s an asphalt car.”

Unzicker didn’t have the day he was looking for in his first ARCA Menards Series appearance of 2019 two weeks ago at Springfield.

However, that doesn’t temper his optimism for his next run at DuQuoin on Saturday night.

“We had a great car in practice,” he said. “We were the fastest by far all day long. We had made some changes that worked really well for practice and qualifying when the track was still tacky, but when the feature started they didn’t work at all. They weren’t anything we could undo on a pit stop so we were stuck with it. I think when we get to DuQuoin you’ll see what we’re really made of. I always had better results at DuQuoin than I do at Springfield anyhow.

“It’s only two weeks after Springfield so I am already used to the car and the driving style,” Unzicker added. “I don’t have to readjust to it after a year away from it.”

Unzicker recently won his 100th career late model feature and won the season championship at Fairbury American Legion Speedway.

With all that success, why does Unzicker take time away from his late model and continue to chase that ever-elusive ARCA Menards Series dirt victory?

“We’re missing a couple of big late model races to be at DuQuoin on Saturday night,” he said. “With Springfield being on a Sunday and DuQuoin having been on a Monday for so long, it was pretty easy to fit these two races into our schedule. We didn’t usually have to miss too much with the late model. But the move to Saturday night at DuQuoin means we’re going to miss a couple of late model shows we usually would have been able to make. I always want to broaden my horizons as a driver, though.

“I am really blessed to be able to race with my team and Hendren Motorsports. We’re competitive with the big teams,” Unzicker added. “We don’t have all the resources of some of those other teams. But I think we can do it.

“I really would like to think we can go to DuQuoin and pull one off.”

MADRID, Spain – The provisional calendar for the 2020 MotoGP World Championship season was revealed to the public on Wednesday, featuring 20 races between March and November.

A notable addition to next year’s schedule, subject to an FIM homologation, will be the Finnish Grand Prix on July 12 at the KymiRing.

The PTT Grand Prix of Thailand will move from the 15th round of the championship to be the second race of the year next season, rolling off on March 22.

All 19 of the races from this year’s MotoGP schedule return on next year’s provisional calendar.

Preseason tests will be held Nov. 19 in Valencia, Spain; Nov. 26 in Jerez, Spain; Feb. 7 in Sepang, Malaysia and Feb. 22 in Lusail, Qatar.

Marc Marquez is the current MotoGP point leader with seven races remaining, holding a 78-point margin over Andrea Dovizioso.

Provisional 2020 MotoGP Calendar

Date – Event – Track

March 8 – Qatar Grand Prix – Losail Int’l Circuit

March 22 – Thailand Grand Prix – Chang Int’l Circuit

April 5 – Grand Prix of the Americas – Circuit of the Americas

April 19 – Argentinian Grand Prix – Termas de Rio Hondo

May 3 – Spanish Grand Prix – Jerez Circuit Angel Nieto

May 17 – French Grand Prix – Le Mans Bugatti Circuit

May 31 – Italian Grand Prix – Autodromo del Mugello

June 7 – Catalan Grand Prix – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

June 21 – German Grand Prix – Sachsenring

June 28 – Dutch Grand Prix – TT Circuit Assen

July 12 – Finnish Grand Prix – KymiRing

Aug. 9 – Czech Grand Prix – Automotodrom Brno

Aug. 16 – Austrian Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring

Aug. 30 – British Grand Prix – Silverstone Circuit

Sept. 13 – San Marino Grand Prix – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli

Oct. 4 – Aragon Grand Prix – MotorLand Aragon

Oct. 18 – Japanese Grand Prix – Twin Ring Motegi

Oct. 25 – Australian Grand Prix – Philip Island

Nov. 1 – Malaysian Grand Prix – Sepang Int’l Circuit

Nov. 15 – Valencia Grand Prix – Circuit de Valencia-Ricardo Tormo

CONCORD, N.C. — Danny Dietrich remained at the top of the National Sprint Car Rankings for the second consecutive week.

Dietrich, who has won 13 features this season, raised his number of starts to 63 races and as a result, lowered his average finish to 3.7

Dietrich leads World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series driver Brad Sweet, who has also won 13 features, and ranks second with an average finish of 4.0 in 56 races.

World of Outlaws point leader Donny Schatz (4.420) is third, while Knoxville Nationals winner David Gravel (4.680) ranks fourth.

Rounding out the top five in the national rankings is Central Pennsylvania regular Logan Wagner, wo has a 5.720 average finish in 25 starts.

Kyle Larson made his 20th start of the season and entered the top 10 in ninth position.

Dietrich leads the Eastern region on the strength of 13 victories, while other regional leaders are Buddy Kofoid (Great Lakes), Billy Balog (Great Plains), David Gravel (Northwest), Dominic Scelzi (West), Jacob Patton (Mid-America) and Carl Bowser. (Ohio-PA).

One hundred and 13 drivers have combined to win 291 features run through August 25.

WALLKILL, N.Y. – NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver Tyler Dippel and Young’s Motorsports officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the charges against Dippel following his Aug. 18 arrest in New York state have been dropped.

Dippel released his first statement since the news broke on Aug. 23 that he had been indefinitely suspended by NASCAR under the sanctioning body’s code of conduct clause.

Additional details were revealed on Monday that Dippel’s suspension was the result of a traffic stop in Dippel’s hometown of Wallkill, N.Y. – where he was pulled over for traveling in excess of 80 mph – that ultimately led to a search of his vehicle, subsequent arrest and charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.

Dippel offered an apology on Wednesday and recounted the entire sequence of events publicly for the first time.

“I would like to start by apologizing to my fans, Young’s Motorsports, NASCAR, Gander Outdoors, our partners, and my family and friends for the grief this situation has caused. Due to an ongoing investigation we have not been able to speak on the topic until today,” wrote Dippel in his prepared statement. “On Aug. 18, while driving home from the Orange County Fair Speedway, I was pulled over for changing lanes without (a) proper signal. The trooper asked my passenger and myself if we had been using drugs and we responded with “no” – because we hadn’t. The trooper continued to question us and then asked to search the vehicle, [and] I gave him my consent, as I had nothing to hide.

“In the back of my truck was a friend’s backpack, who was not with us, containing his prescription medication. Because it was in my vehicle, I was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance,” Dippel continued. “Upon my appearance ticket, I contacted NASCAR within hours to inform them of the situation. Due to the NASCAR rule book and code of conduct, they ruled to suspend me indefinitely. I respect their decision.

Goalie Cam Ward returned to the Carolina Hurricanes on a one-day contract Wednesday, and then he called it a career.

Ward, 35, retired from the NHL after a 14-year run that saw him lead the franchise to its only Stanley Cup championship in 2006. He was the first rookie goalie to accomplish that feat since Patrick Roy of the Montreal Canadiens in 1986, and he became the first rookie to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP since goalie Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1987.

Pen to paper.

Cane for life. pic.twitter.com/dY2MsAZLP3

— Carolina Hurricanes (@CanesNHL) August 28, 2019

Cam Ward has signed a one-day contract and will officially retire as a Carolina Hurricane!

More Info » https://t.co/k3Ott16NOj pic.twitter.com/WXds0dFQyZ

— Carolina Hurricanes (@CanesNHL) August 28, 2019

His legacy with the Hurricanes extends beyond that championship. Ward retires with the franchise records for career regular-season games played (668), wins (318), winning percentage (.557), shutouts (27) and saves (17,261).

He started 29 games with the Chicago Blackhawks last season after leaving the Hurricanes as a free agent and went 16-12-4 with a 3.67 goals-against average and .897 save percentage. The latter two numbers were his worst since his rookie year.

He finishes with a 2.70 GAA and .909 save percentage for his career. His 334 career wins ranks him sixth among active goalies.

After a season away from Raleigh, Ward said it was important to come back home to retire.

"It was an honor and a privilege to wear the Hurricanes jersey for 13 years," said Ward. "Throughout it all, what stayed clear to me was my love for this organization, this city and this fan base. It is why my family and I call Raleigh home, and will continue to call it home. I appreciate all of the support the fans gave me throughout the highs and the lows. I thank you."

Ward was selected 25th overall in the 2002 NHL draft by Carolina.