Scarlets have signed three new players, including lock Danny Drake from New Zealand province North Harbour.

The 24-year-old's signing came at the same time Scarlets announced two recruits who are moving from Welsh rivals.

Scrum-half Dane Blacker is leaving Cardiff Blues for Parc y Scarlets and tight-head prop Alex Jeffries is joining them from Ospreys.

"I'm really excited to touch down on Welsh soil," said Drake.

Former Wales Under-18s and 20s lock Blacker has played in the Pro14 and European Champions Cup and arrives following the departure of Scotland scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne.

Jeffries is also a former Wales age-grade international and made 18 senior appearances for Ospreys.

Drake will have a fellow New Zealander as company at lock in Sam Lousi, who joins from Super Rugby side Hurricanes under new coach Brad Mooar.

"Danny, Dane and Alex are talented young players who will be excellent additions to our squad," said Scarlets general manager of rugby Jon Daniels.

"We have worked hard to ensure we have put together a group of players capable of competing for silverware and re-signing players of the calibre of Johnny McNicholl, Jon Davies, Ken Owens, Rob Evans and others have been crucial to that."

For the latest Welsh rugby news follow @BBCScrumV on Twitter.

Former England Sevens star Ruaridh McConnochie and Harlequins' back rower Alex Dombrandt are two of the uncapped players included in England's preliminary World Cup training squad.

Northampton's Lewis Ludlam and Gloucester prop Val Rapava Ruskin have also both been called up to a senior squad for the first time.

As expected, the quartet of Danny Care, Chris Robshaw, Nathan Hughes and captain Dylan Hartley all miss out.

Hartley has not played since December.

The hooker, 33, led England to back-to-back Six Nations titles in 2016 and 2017 under head coach Eddie Jones, but has been struggling with a knee problem.

The World Cup will take place in Japan from 20 September-2 November.

England's 29-man training group is made up mainly of players who were not involved in the Premiership semi-finals at the end of May.

According to protocols agreed with the Rugby Players' Association, all players are guaranteed a five-week rest after the end of their season.

However, Ludlam and Rapava Ruskin both featured in the Premiership semi-finals, while Dombrandt and fly-half Marcus Smith - who is also named - were involved in an England XV against the Barbarians on 2 June.

The RFU say these players will have their workload monitored to ensure the correct rest periods are fulfilled.

While a place in the final 31-man World Cup squad, to be named in mid-August, looks a long shot at this stage, McConnochie and Dombrandt have both come from nowhere to force their way into contention.

Bath's McConnochie was playing rugby sevens as recently as last year, while Dombrandt is in his first season as a professional after finishing his university studies.

Ludlam has also enjoyed a breakthrough season at Franklin's Gardens, while Rapava Ruskin comes into the frame after the injury to Mako Vunipola and retirement of Joe Marler.

While Marler is considering his options, he has not been named in this training squad and remains in international retirement.

Elsewhere, the dropping of Robshaw and Care represent two of the biggest selection decisions made by Jones.

Both were central parts of the first three years of the Australian's regime, before falling out of favour.

By dropping them at this point and not bringing them into camp, Jones has shown he already knows the main composition of his final World Cup squad.

On this note, Jones has resisted the temptation to bring Hartley into the set-up to continue his recovery from his chronic knee problem.

It means the hooker's chances of making the World Cup squad are all but over, with Owen Farrell set to captain in his absence.

However Leicester prop Dan Cole and Harlequins full-back Mike Brown, both surplus to requirements of late, have made the squad, while Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson has recovered from deep vein thrombosis.

"The first two England training camps are designed to improve individual players' fundamentals to allow them to compete for a place in the Rugby World Cup squad," said head coach Jones.

NAPLES, Maine – Pro All Stars Series officials have released details, entry forms and the complete weekend schedule for the PASS National Championship season finale at Lanier Raceplex on Nov. 15-16.

The Lanier National 200 for the PASS super late models will be 200 laps, paying $6,000 to win and $1,000 to start.  The starting grid will be set by heat races in which their lineups will be determined by using practice speeds from final practice.

Finally, Legend cars and Bandoleros will complete the weekend of competition at Lanier Raceplex, featuring three divisions of Legend car racing – Pro, Semi-Pro and the Young Lions.

“We’ve been working on this event at Lanier for quite a while and we are glad to be able to get this information out while in advance of the Lanier National 200,” said PASS President Tom Mayberry.  “We have listened to our fans and racers and we believe the addition of heat races will provide even more action to this great weekend of racing. And, the Legends cars and Bandoleros were always popular at Lanier and, based on what we’re hearing, there should be a lot of support for their return in November.”

In addition to the grandstands being open, Lanier’s trackside parking will be available to the fans for this event. The track was repaved and all infield buildings were torn down at Lanier Raceplex when the facility was transformed to host drifting events and go-kart racing for the public.  All race cars will be pitted outside the track so fans will be able to enjoy an unobstructed view of the action from any vantage point at the speedway

When PASS began sanctioning super late model races in the south, Lanier was one of the first tracks to come on board to host an event. Georgia native Jason Hogan won the first PASS race there in 2006, while Maine’s Corey Williams took the checkered flag the final time PASS held a race at Lanier in 2007.

Numerous drivers cut their teeth racing Legends cars and Bandoleros at Lanier Raceplex, including Joey Logano, David Ragan, Daniel Hemric and more.  With the concentration of Legend cars around the Atlanta area, the Carolinas, and much of the Eastern Seaboard, race officials believe splitting the cars in to Pro, Semi-Pro and Young Lions will allow for even more action around the three-eighths-mile speedway.  There will be a payout throughout the field in each division with $500 to win for the Pro division, $400 to win for the Semi-Pros and $300 to win for the Young Lions.

Lanier Raceplex will roar to life Nov. 15, with practice for PASS super late models and Legend cars from 1 to 5 p.m.   On Nov. 16, pit gates will open at 8 a.m., followed by practice at 10 a.m., heat races for PASS super late models, Legend cars and Bandoleros at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Lanier National 200 and remaining features. Nov. 17 will be reserved as a rain date if needed.

Entry forms are available by visiting ProAllStarsSeries.com.

INDIANAPOLIS – Registration is open for the second running of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink on Sept. 4-5 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Teams can file their entry for the event at www.thebc39.com, where they may also purchase pit and parking passes for the two-night USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event.

With the expansion of grandstand seating around the quarter-mile dirt oval, teams purchasing pit passes for the BC39 will be able to add a grandstand seat.  Five-hundred reserved seats in Tier 3 (lower level) have been made available for purchase at a discounted rate until Aug. 15.  Unsold tickets as of Aug. 15 will be made available at public prices and may sell out.

There are three options for viewing the racing action and also having pit pass access.  You can purchase a competitor pit pass only where no seat is included with limited viewing of the track.  Secondly, you can purchase a competitor pit pass with reserved seating included, which are available in the lower level of the main grandstands.  Both options are available on www.thebc39.com.

You may also purchase a grandstand seat from IMS with a pit pass upgrade, which is available at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

Each entry filed will come with two VIP parking passes for inside parking at IMS.  All others must either purchase inside parking or park outside of turns three and four of 2.5-mile paved oval track.

The BC39 officially gets underway on Sept. 3 with team parking at noon followed by the heat race position draft at the USAC office, located at 4910 W. 16th Street, adjacent from turn one of IMS oval at 7 p.m. (all times Eastern).  All cars entered will be randomized into a draft order for the heat race draft.  Teams will be able to pick their heat race spot, either in person with a representative, or remotely through USAC officials.  Any unrepresented team will be given the first available spot.  The heat race position draft is open to the public with team members getting priority into the new USAC worldwide headquarters.

On track action begins Sept. 4, beginning with the drivers meeting in the IMS Media Room at 2 p.m.  Public gates open at 3 p.m. with cars hitting the track for practice at 4 p.m., followed by opening ceremonies at 7 p.m.  Heat races and the Stoops Pursuit race will conclude the night’s racing action.

The finale on Sept. 5 will have the public gates opening at 3 p.m. and cars on track for practice at 4 p.m., with qualifying races to follow at 5 p.m.  Opening ceremonies are slated for 7:30 p.m. and immediately followed by the main feature events, starting with multiple D-Mains and C-Mains, the semi-feature and the 39-lap main event. Brady Bacon is the defending race winner.

LEBANON, Ind. — Spencer Bayston and crew chief Andy Potter have departed Pete Grove’s Premier Motorsports team in the wake of a rough Ohio Speedweek outing at Wayne County Speedway on Wednesday night.

Bayston, who linked up with Grove late in the offseason and was chasing the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions title, confirmed the news on social media Thursday afternoon before speaking with SPEED SPORT in an exclusive interview.

RELATED: Reutzel Rules Wayne County All Star Go

Wednesday night’s Wayne County showing saw Bayston endure losing a wheel during qualifying, forcing him to switch to a backup car and take a provisional to start the feature. The night got worse when he flipped wildly down the backstretch during the main event.

While the 20-year-old Hoosier noted that Wayne County wasn’t the sole catalyst behind his decision to leave Grove’s operation, he called it “the final straw” after a lot of other factors built up in the spring.

“I wouldn’t say this first half of the year has been all disappointment, and I don’t regret running the No. 70x car at all,” Bayston said. “I’ve learned a lot this year working with Andy and I feel like here recently … the last few races we’ve been running, we were probably one of the most consistent cars on track and had started making some headway in the points battle, as well.

“There’s just been a lot of things that have happened over the year that have accumulated and led to this decision,” Bayston added. “Andy and I have been on the same page; we’ve both had the same thoughts about the whole situation, and we knew it wasn’t exactly what we wanted. I’m not going to sit here and bad-mouth anybody or talk bad about anyone. I just felt like we needed to make a change and I needed a fresh start.

“After last night, I felt like that needed to be it — that sent us both over the edge.”

Bayston left Wayne County in a tie for third in All Star points, 64 behind leader Aaron Reutzel and even with Cory Eliason among rookie-of-the-year challengers, on the strength of two top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 10 All Star starts.

Bayston admitted that he’s not sure whether his full-time points chase will continue for this year, though he did note that he has “a handful of races” lined up with an undisclosed team.

“I don’t really have too much planned at this point, going forward,” Bayston explained. “I’ve actually been working on figuring out what’s next and been looking at my options already. With me announcing this, my phone’s been going a little crazy. I’m trying to weigh everything; I don’t want to jump in a car that I don’t feel like I want to be in. After everything that’s happened, I don’t want to force an issue.

“I want everything to be right in my next situation and if I don’t feel like something will be that way, then I won’t take it,” he continued. “If that means sitting out for a little bit, then that’s what I have to do, but I want to approach this a little bit differently now. This deal was a bit last-minute, kind of rushed into and maybe not done completely correctly, but we’ve learned from our mistakes and I’ll carry that on to my next ride, wherever that ends up being.”

Despite the setback to his first full season of winged sprint car racing, Bayston has been pleased with his transition from midget racing.

Now, he just needs a new place to call home.

“I feel like my transition has honestly gone pretty well,” noted Bayston. “We struggled a little bit in the beginning of the year, just with moving to a different chassis and learning the communication I needed to with having a different crew chief, so it’s been a learning experience. Every single time we were on the track, though, I felt like we got better. I felt like we were constantly learning and had gotten to be right on the edge of winning a few races.

“We were starting to fine-tune, finally, which is why I hate to make a decision like this in the middle of the year,” he added. “Things just needed to be different. … I just couldn’t see it going any further.”

MANSFIELD, Ohio – Mother Nature has struck again, forcing the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 to cancel Thursday’s Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek stop at Mansfield Motor Speedway.

Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Indy Metal Finishing will resume on Friday evening at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio. In the event that Limaland is unable to host Speedweek competition due to wet weather, the Speedweek path will be diverted to Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio.

More updates pertaining to this scenario will be posted if necessary.

The 37th edition of Ohio Sprint Speedweek will come to a close on Saturday evening, June 22, back at Wayne County Speedway. The Speedweek finale will award a $10,000 top prize.

If weather becomes a factor on Saturday, the Ohio Sprint Speedweek finale will be pushed to Sunday.

TORONTO -- Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews will be on the cover of the EA Sports video game "NHL 20."

The 21-year-old forward was named as the featured player Wednesday night at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

Says Matthews: "If you look at the long list of guys who have been on the cover, it's pretty special company."

The previous two covers featured Nashville's P.K. Subban and Edmonton's Connor McDavid. Other cover athletes include Claude Giroux, Martin Brodeur, Eric Lindros and Mario Lemieux.

Auston Matthews takes the cover of #NHL20 @AM34 https://t.co/Ob0fSsRhrX pic.twitter.com/GBkMZMosaM

— #NHL20 (@EASPORTSNHL) June 20, 2019

This year's game introduces a "Signature Shots" feature replicating the most recognizable shot styles of some NHL stars. Matthews calls it a "pretty cool feature."

"NHL 20" is available Sept. 13 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Alexander Edler to a two-year, $12 million contract, general manager Jim Benning announced Thursday.

Edler, 33, could have become an unrestricted free agent next month. He has been a consistent presence on the blue line in Vancouver for his entire 13-year career.

"I've said from the beginning that if a deal was there with Vancouver, that was my number one priority," he said during a conference call. "You never know what's out there in free agency so I didn't think too much about that."

He is coming off a solid season with 10 goals and 24 assists. His season was limited to 56 games due to a February concussion that cost him over three weeks and coincided with the Canucks falling out of playoff contention.

"Alex is important to our team and has played as the cornerstone of our defence throughout his career," Benning said in a statement. "He's a leader with tremendous experience, plays important minutes and contributes to every part of our team game."

The Swede is coming off a six-year, $30 million contract with the Canucks. He has been a vital part of the team from the run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010-11 to the current rebuild.

Asked if he would consider taking games off to preserve his health, Edler said: "I come into training camp in great shape every year and I certainly think my body can take 82 games," he said.

Still, Edler understands his role with the Canucks may evolve as younger defensemen like Quinn Hughes grow into stronger NHL players.

"I'm always going to try to be the best out there every game, the best that I can," he said. "If guys are better than me, they should play more. That's just how it works."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Stan Fischler said he has never seen anything like the Jack Hughes vs. Kaapo Kakko spectacle: two elite prospects, who will be taken first and second in the 2019 NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, two storied geographic rivals.

"This is a first for me. And I've been watching the game since 1939," said Fischler, 87, a renowned hockey historian and a fixture on the New York puck scene since the 1950s.

This has never happened before in the NHL draft, tracking all the way back to 1963. There has never been a scenario in which neighboring blood rivals were both so bad at the same time as to earn the top two picks overall. Yes, there have been some rivals that have picked one and two, but not ones located in the same metropolitan area. And not ones that have the history of the Devils and Rangers, which spans from the gruesome battles in the Patrick Division to their playoff glories in the 1990s to Sean Avery waving his stick in Martin Brodeur's face while insulting his physique in the 2000s.

As both teams struggled for consistency in recent years, the rivalry cooled, even if the barbs from fans on social media remained as vicious as ever. Hughes and Kakko are expected to reignite it.

"This is a fantastic moment in time for the Trans-Hudson rivalry. Especially for New Jersey, since [general manager] Ray Shero picks first, and thereby sets the scenario all by himself," Fischler said.

In their decades-long feud, both the Devils and Rangers would either both be competitive -- see the Rangers' 1994 Eastern Conference finals win over New Jersey en route to their first Stanley Cup in 54 years, or the Devils' 2012 Eastern Conference finals win against the Rangers -- or one would be up while the other was down. But not last season, when both teams were terrible. The Devils had 72 points, tumbling down the standings after a playoff berth in the previous season. The Rangers had 78 points, in the midst of a calculated rebuild.

At the NHL draft lottery in April, Shero nervously watched NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly flip the placards revealing NHL logos. When Chicago jumped into the top three, he thought "that's not good for us." He figured the Devils would be sixth. But Daly flipped over the Detroit Red Wings' logo in the No. 6 spot. Then fifth, but that was the Los Angeles Kings. Then fourth, but that was the Colorado Avalanche by way of the Ottawa Senators, who were the NHL's worst team. The Devils were in the final three picks, which their pre-draft lottery odds (11.5%) had predicted. But so were the Rangers, who had the sixth-best chance (7.5%).

"At that point, you're not even really thinking. It happens so quickly. You're not even thinking that the other guy left is in your division or anything. You're just thinking, 'S---, that would be great.' You're there, and you might as well try to win," said Shero, whose team won the lottery for the second time in three years.

"I know Jeff [Gorton, Rangers GM] pretty well. He's a great guy. There are a lot worse positions than to be up there. I can't really worry about what other team is still standing. Just that it's Jersey that won."

Devils fans, of course, will worry about what the other team does. As Fischler noted, whatever player they don't chose defaults to the Rangers. Shero is essentially selecting New York's next franchise player in the process of selecting his own.

"I was amused as much as anything. But sure, given the fact the Rangers are a rival, I'm annoyed they're likely going to get a good player as well," said Hasan Allahverdi, a 41-year-old Devils season-ticket holder who blogs at Battle of New York, a site that covers the rivalry involving the Rangers, Devils and Islanders.

"Obviously, the Hughes-Kakko dynamic adds a new element to the Devils-Rangers rivalry that's seldom been seen before, with draft peers both expected to be impact players for rebuilding teams. Their different backgrounds and attributes as hockey players will only amplify the comparisons with each other that much more. It'll alternately be fun and tense -- especially if both live up to projections and help lead their teams back to relevance, hopefully with some Crosby-Ovi type playoff matchups to boot."

He's not the only one thinking about the Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin rivalry that rekindled the animosity between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals beginning in 2005 -- and, in the process, giving the NHL its marquee rivalry for the next 14 years. Shero was Crosby's general manager in Pittsburgh, and saw it firsthand.

"Hughes vs. Kakko is not Crosby vs. Ovechkin. But if Crosby had been taken by Pittsburgh and Ovechkin by Dallas or something like that, then that Washington vs. Pittsburgh rivalry, which is fantastic, wouldn't have been reignited," Shero said. "These things are really good for hockey. Hopefully we play more than the four or five times we do in the regular season and both teams make the playoffs. This is good. It'll make the rivalry stronger."

There is, of course, another component, which is the personal one.

"It'll be really competitive for a lot of years," Hughes told ESPN during the Stanley Cup Final. "Whether it's the Devils or the Rangers, we're going to be linked for a long time, with us going to places that are so close to each other."

It was projected for more than a year that the winner of the 2019 NHL draft lottery would select the U.S.-born center at No. 1, to the point where tanking efforts were labeled "Lose For Hughes." But Kakko's electrifying performance at the IIHF World Championships for champion Finland, with six goals and an assist in 10 games, closed the gap with Hughes in the eyes of many observers, especially since Hughes sputtered to three assists in seven games.

Suddenly, the top pick was being debated a bit more vigorously.

"I think that he had a great tournament. But I think that [scouts] have seen us play about 25 times this year," Hughes said. "They've done a lot of scouting, a lot of research for sure. Both teams will make a good pick and get a good player out of it."

As for the personal rivalry, could that be an added motivation for Hughes?

"I don't need any extra motivation. You're in the NHL. You're playing unbelievable players, every night. I just think it would be fun to be linked with that for a lot of years," he said.

Fischler says he thinks it'll be fun, too. What he likes about the rivalry is that it's a study in contrasts, much like the Crosby vs. Ovechkin dynamic was.

"You have a kid born in Orlando, Florida, of all places, vs. Turko, Finland. Then there's the smaller American against the bigger, more experienced Finn. Plus, the hype," Fischler said. "Few Americans ever have obtained the kind of build-up Jack is getting. Then there's the Hughes family angle against the Finn's lower-key approach to the game. Contrast that with Hughes' disappointing performance in the Worlds while his rival hit the heights with highlight performances.

"What we're seeing is a five-act play that's one of a kind."

The final act will be the Battle of the Hudson. The closest thing the Devils and Rangers have had to this level of competitive rivalry between elite players was Martin Brodeur vs. Henrik Lundqvist in goal. But Brodeur was 34 when Lundqvist was a rookie, with the former having already won three Stanley Cups, two Vezina Trophies and Olympic gold. Hughes and Kakko will both have their skates on the starting line, beginning their careers at the same time.

May the best franchise player win.

Said Shero: "It's great for the Devils. It's great for the Rangers. They're both good players."