England scrum-half Natasha Hunt says playing a shortened Women's Six Nations this year is "gutting".

With the 2021 World Cup set to be postponed, there have been calls to extend the Women's Six Nations again.

"It's not the Six Nations, it's two games and then a final," Hunt told BBC Radio 5 Live's Rugby Union Weekly.

"When the announcement came everyone was posting it like it was this amazing thing. But for me it was gutting.

"I completely appreciate the financial burden and how difficult it is to get these games on. But for me that's the one they've given up on too easily."

The Six Nations announced in February that the tournament would be delayed for two months and teams would be split into two pools.

Each team will play two pool games, one home and one away, before matches to decide placings on the final weekend and Hunt says the format is "not good enough".

Players paying for surgery 'outrageous'

Hunt's participation in the tournament may be in doubt after she sustained a knee injury in Gloucester-Hartpury's Premier 15s loss to Harlequins on Saturday.

The 31-year-old is awaiting further scans to learn the extent of the problem but described how lucky she feels that her club offers players medical insurance for such situations.

Injured Wales flanker Alisha Butchers was not so fortunate. Club Bristol Bears' insurance part-funded the ankle surgery she needed, but the international was forced to crowdfund the remaining amount.

Hunt described Butchers' situation as "outrageous".

"Players who are putting everything in - working full-time jobs and training like a full-time athlete - are having to fund their own surgeries," she continued.

"I just think it's madness. Minimum standards have to be in place to insure players.

"As sad as it is that this has happened it has raised alarm bells and the unions are looking into it, Wales and England, to make sure there is a minimum standard across the board."

England have vowed to "keep playing on the edge" when France visit Twickenham on Saturday, despite the side's lack of discipline costing them in the Six Nations so far.

Defence coach John Mitchell says England need to be "smarter", but cannot play with any less intensity.

"At no point will we stop playing on the edge," he told BBC Sport.

"We are working really hard at improving our awareness, and have some education this week with referees being in [camp].

"Hopefully through growing our awareness - and getting the hard lesson - it will put us in good stead going forward."

Flanker Tom Curry added: "We're pushing our discipline in terms of making sure it is good in training, and the coaches are hot on it.

"It's not like suddenly it's a big issue, we are doing it, and sometimes games happen like that.

"It's about keeping on pushing it, and being smart with it."

Exeter will continue their Heineken Champions Cup defence at home to Lyon in the revised knockout phase.

Premiership side Wasps will host Clermont Auvergne and Bristol travel to Bordeaux Begles.

Matches will be played on the first weekend of April after organisers were forced to change the format because of coronavirus cancellations.

In the other three ties Gloucester host La Rochelle, Edinburgh travel to Racing 92 and Scarlets welcome Sale.

The draw for the second-tier Challenge Cup is also complete, with three Anglo-Welsh ties confirmed in the last 16.

The quarter-final draw has been made for both competitions, with that round of matches taking place on 9-11 April.

The semi-finals of both competitions are scheduled for the weekend of 30 April, with the finals in Marseille on Friday, 21 May and Saturday, 22 May.

Champions Cup draw

Round of 16 (2-4 April)

Quarter-finals (9-11 April)

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World Rugby has pledged £2m to help teams prepare for the World Cup after confirming the postponement of the tournament until 2022.

World Rugby said the focus would be on providing teams with international competition before the tournament.

New Zealand is set to host the event but a new date is yet to be announced.

Rugby's governing body cited travel risks, uncertainty around teams' ability to prepare adequately during the coronavirus pandemic and challenges in completing the qualification process as some reasons to postpone the tournament in New Zealand.

World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: "Our hearts go out to all the players, team personnel and fans who were preparing and looking forward to Rugby World Cup 2021.

"We recognise that they will be extremely disappointed, but I would like to assure them that the decision to postpone has been made entirely in the interests of their welfare, wellbeing and preparation and the desire to put on a showcase tournament that will super-charge women's rugby globally."

Wales have recalled Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies and Cardiff Blues lock Cory Hill for the Six Nations trip to Italy on Saturday.

Adam Beard drops out of the squad while Lloyd Williams and Jake Ball have been named as replacements.

Wales will face Italy before travelling to play France seven days later.

Hardy suffered a hamstring injury against England which has ruled him out of the tournament, while Tomos Williams is yet to return to fitness after picking up a similar problem against Ireland.

Ball will win his 50th cap if he comes off the bench, with Rhys Carre and Aaron Wainwright also named as replacements.

Ospreys prop Rhodri Jones has been released from Wales' Six Nations squad due to a calf injury suffered in training and has been replaced by regional team-mate Nicky Smith.

Wayne Pivac's Triple Crown-winning side are two steps away from a Grand Slam following victories over Ireland, Scotland and England.

Head coach Pivac has also chosen to name his team two days earlier than scheduled and it is the most experienced starting side in Wales history with 979 caps.

"We are really looking forward to this weekend and are ready to get out there on Saturday," said Pivac.

"Three from three is a great start but there has been plenty to do and plenty of work-ons. We've had a two-week build-up to this game, trained really well in the fallow week and are looking forward to round four."

Wales team to face Italy

Liam Williams; Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Jonathan Davies, Josh Adams; Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Josh Navidi, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Elliot Dee, Rhys Carre, Leon Brown, Jake Ball, Aaron Wainwright, Lloyd Williams, Callum Sheedy, Willis Halaholo.

GEORGETOWN, Del. — Standing tall on the Georgetown Speedway backstretch is a 30-foot billboard adorned with the Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company logo and a prominent number 49.

Each year, the Northeast dirt modified season kicks off in March with a 49-lap race paying homage to Melvin L. Joseph, the man who designed and constructed the Sussex County half-mile track in 1949 and hosted its opening just over 70 years ago in 1950.

The Melvin L. Joseph Memorial is set to kick off the Georgetown Speedway and Northeast dirt modified season this weekend. The weekend pinnacle is the 49-lap, $10,049-plus-to-win Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series opener for the Velocita-USA South Region Saturday. This event boasts a $33,889 minimum pay structure ($490 to take the green) plus plentiful bonuses, special awards and certificates.

Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company has added $49 per lap, a total of $2,401, which will be distributed through the top-seven running order during the event. The Saturday program also includes the STSS Crate 602 Sportsman Belmont’s Garage South Region opener plus 12-lap features for the Little Lincolns, Delaware Super Trucks and Delmarva Chargers.

Friday night kicks off the weekend with small-block modifieds headlining the program. Also competing on Friday are the RUSH Late Models, Southern Delaware Vintage Stock Cars, Delaware Super Trucks and Delmarva Chargers.

The business and racing legacy of Joseph, who passed away 16 years ago, will be on display during the weekend. Joseph founded Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company in 1940. However, it was the year 1949 that proved to be a turning point for him in business.  His first major contract came in 1949 and he also became a partner in the Ford dealership in Georgetown. From all the good fortune that year, he declared ‘49’ his lucky number.

Joseph was also responsible for paving the majority of the roads in Delaware’s Sussex County, the expansion of Summit Airport, and overseeing many projects locally and abroad.

Joseph approached auto racing with the same determination and drive he had for business. His passion for speed began on the back roads of Sussex County in his Mercurys. That love led to the beaches of Florida. In 1955, his cars won both the NASCAR sportsman and modified events on the sands of Daytona Beach, Fla., with drivers Banjo Matthews and Vince Conrad.

Joseph became a pioneer in the development of NASCAR and developed a close relationship with Bill France Sr. In 1959, Joseph’s car – driven by Banjo Matthews – won the race by three miles in the first NASCAR modified race on the newly built Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Perhaps the most notable – and controversial – “win” for Joseph in NASCAR came at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, N.C., on Aug. 6, 1971 with Bobby Allison as his driver. At the time, sponsorship money was reduced from the ‘Big Three’ Detroit auto manufacturers, leading to less-than-full fields at some of the smaller purse events.

To bolster car count, NASCAR allowed teams from the Grand American Series – and their pony cars – to compete against the more powerful Grand National Series cars.

Allison opted to drive Joseph’s No. 49 Mustang, much more nimble than the bigger Grand National counterparts, on the quarter-mile oval and took the checkered with a three-second advantage over Richard Petty. Ultimately, NASCAR did not credit Allison with a Grand National victory, but as a Grand American victory, and that event, to this day, does not have a recognized Grand National (Cup Series) winner in the sanctioning body’s record books.

“I am trying to get that (win) reinstated,” Allison said during an appearance at Georgetown Speedway in 2018 at the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial. “There are a couple of reasons. One, Melvin Joseph deserves credit for it. And also, that would put me one win ahead of Darrell Waltrip (on the all-time NASCAR Cup win list, where Allison and Waltrip are tied for 84). I need that!”

Allison and Joseph developed a friendship that withstood the test of time. To this day, Allison watches the races at Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway from the Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company suite.

“I was dragging an old Modified around with my pick-up truck going up and down the road,” Allison said. “I went out of my way coming from New Jersey to come by Georgetown Speedway and Melvin Joseph’s company, just to see the thing with my own eyes. That was before I even knew him, before I got to know him.

“Melvin Joseph was my hero.”

When the time came to develop a NASCAR facility in Delaware, Joseph led the way. He utilized his established rapport with NASCAR leadership to construct Dover Int’l Speedway. Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company was contracted to build the one-mile speedway, which hosted its first race in 1969.

Appropriately, during the 2018 edition of the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial event, the State of Delaware placed a Historical Marker at the entrance of Georgetown Speedway, recognizing its legacy in the First State.

BRIGHTON, Ontario – A new touring 360 sprint car series is set to ride into Eastern Canada this season.

The Knights of Thunder 360 Sprint Car Series has 27 races spread across seven tracks this year.

Nineteen point events are divided among five Ontario venues; six races are scheduled at Brighton Speedway, five at Humberstone Speedway, four at Merrittville Speedway, two at Ohsweken Speedway, and two at the remodeled and renamed Southern Ontario Motor Speedway (formerly South Buxton Raceway).

Show-up points will be awarded in four additional events at Ohsweken – two surrounding the NASCAR Pinty’s 100 in August, and two on Canadian Sprint Car Nationals weekend in September.

The schedule is rounded out with co-sanctioned non-point events with the Empire Super Sprints and Patriot Sprint Tour at Brockville Ontario Speedway and Cornwall Motor Speedway.

The Knights of Thunder season is scheduled to kick off on April 17 at Merrittville’s Spring Sizzler, and conclude at Southern Ontario Motor Speedway on Oct. 9.

Several holiday weekend and weeknight events are included in the schedule, including Victoria Day at Merrittville, Canada Day at Humberstone, Labour Day weekend at Brighton, and Monday and Tuesday dates at Ohsweken as part of the dirt track debut of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series.

A talented mix of veterans and young drivers have already indicated their intent to compete on the Knights of Thunder tour, including former 360 sprint car champions Mitch Brown, Jim Huppunen, Cory Turner, Ryan Turner, Chris Steele, and Glenn Styres. Combined, that group of drivers accounts for 14 championships and more than 90 feature wins in 360 sprint car competition.

Jake Brown, Travis Cunningham, Mikey Kruchka, Jordan Poirier, Aaron Turkey, and Jamie Turner all have 360 sprint car wins to their credit, while Liam Martin and Holly Porter were standouts in the crate sprint car division before moving to the 360 ranks. Poirier’s trips from Quebec to Southern Ontario were worthwhile last season, as he won twice at Merrittville and once at Humberstone. Mitch Brown, Steele, and Turkey also claimed wins at Merrittville during the abbreviated 2020 season.

Each full-points Knights of Thunder event purse will pay at least $2,000-to-win and $250 to start the A-Main. The championship winner will be rewarded with $5,000 and a Pinty’s VIP package for the 2022 Bristol Dirt Race, while 10th place in the championship standings will pay $1,000.

2021 Knights of Thunder 360 Sprint Car Series Schedule

Sat. April 17 – Merrittville Speedway
Sat. May 22 – Brighton Speedway
Mon. May 24 – Merrittville Speedway
Sun. June 6 – Cornwall Motor Speedway (w/ESS; no points)
Sat. June 12 – Brighton Speedway
Fri. June 18 – Ohsweken Speedway
Sat. June 19 – Merrittville Speedway
Sat. June 26 – Southern Ontario Motor Speedway
Thu. July 1 – Humberstone Speedway
Sat. July 3 – Brighton Speedway
Sun. July 11 – Humberstone Speedway
Sat. July 17 – Brockville Ontario Speedway (w/PST; no points)
Sun. July 18 – Cornwall Speedway (w/PST; no points)
Sat. July 24 – Brighton Speedway
Sat. July 31 – Humberstone Speedway
Sat. Aug. 14 – Brockville Ontario Speedway (w/ESS; no points)
Sun. Aug. 15 – Humberstone Speedway
Mon. Aug. 16 – Ohsweken Speedway (show-up points only)
Tue. Aug. 17 – Ohsweken Speedway (show-up points only)
Sat. Sept. 4 – Brighton Speedway
Sun. Sept. 5 – Brighton Speedway
Fri. Sept. 10 – Ohsweken Speedway
Sat. Sept. 11 – Merrittville Speedway
Fri. Sept. 17 – Ohsweken Speedway (NBtN; show-up points only)
Sat. Sept. 18 – Ohsweken Speedway (CSCN; show-up points only)
Sun. Sept. 19 – Humberstone Speedway
Sat. Oct. 9 – Southern Ontario Motor Speedway

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Dan-O’s Seasoning will return as a sponsor of Spencer Boyd and the Youngs Motorsports No. 20 Chevrolet Silverado in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

The brand first sponsored Boyd at the inaugural Daytona Int’l Speedway road course in 2020, representing the brand’s original flavor on a green truck. This year’s truck will be red promoting the spicy version of the seasoning.

“I use Dan-O’s on a weekly basis,” said Boyd.  “My nutritionist keeps my diet to a lot of chicken and fish.  Thankfully Dan-O’s is low in sodium but big in flavor so my meals aren’t boring.  I use it so much they even made a bottle with my face on it last year!”

Dan-O’s Seasoning is made with all-natural unrefined sea salt, and the herbs and spices. Spices and herbs come first, no gluten, artificial chemicals, sugar or GMO’s.

Sprint cars can typically be found racing on dirt and, occasionally, on asphalt.

However, in New England during the winter months, they can also be found on ice.

The Sprint Cars On Ice series is run by New Hampshire native Nick Berry, who also founded Sprint Cars Of New England.

“I grew up in a racing family,” Berry said. “I had a great Aunt that raced in the 50’s on my dad’s side as well as growing up helping my Uncle Tunk and following his career as a child. He raced throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. He started his career on the ice. He did some northeast modifieds as well at first, but then we got into sprint cars.”

It was at the age of 15 that Berry started SCoNE, which has now been around for 20 years.

“I started SCoNE when I was 15, now I’m 35,” Berry said. “Once we got that going we wanted to try the sprint car stuff on ice. Before we put the sprints on the ice they had old coupes, street stocks, big-block type modified racing. We thought it would be cool to have the sprint cars on ice. At first the sprint cars raced together with the modifieds until we built the car count up enough for the sprint cars to have their own deal.”

When you think of sprint car racing, you think of central Pennsylvania, Ohio and California, not New England, which is mostly known for their pavement tracks.

Then something changed.

“Here in New England we are not known for sprint cars, but the car counts for sprint cars went up on dirt,” Berry said. “Some guys couldn’t afford to run a whole season on dirt and saw our cars on ice and thought of it as another opportunity to race. It’s only a month and a half or two months long so it’s a short season. It just took off from there.”

In addition to running the series, Berry also races in it. The series is gaining traction at a rapid rate. However, as the promoter of the series, it can be a tricky situation being in the race as well.

“I haven’t heard any complaints as far as being the promoter,” Berry said. “Even when I race on dirt nobody says anything about being a competitor in your own series. There might be some jealousy out there because I do run in the front a lot but I am not doing anything cheating or illegal. We have been very successful at this and it’s all I do, eat, sleep, breathe sprint car racing.”

When it comes to racing a sprint car on ice versus dirt, there are some differences. However the chassis tubing and body all stay the same.

“We run a windshield with a wiper per the rules here in New England rather than a rock screen,” he said sitting next to his ice sprint car. “That may change in 2022. All the suspension is the same to what we run on dirt. We however run street tires with Woody’s Snowmobile Studs in the tires for traction.

“A lot of our guys will run the same hubs and brakes as what you see on a Saturday night. I run a transmission in this car so it does have a starter, unlike a dirt car, and also we change the fuel tank to hold less fuel while running regular race gas. If we ran alcohol-based fuel we feared it would gel up due to the freezing temperatures.”

Prior to the 2020 season, Berry and his family suffered a massive loss when his grandfather was killed in an automobile accident in November. Since then they have started a race team called John Berry Legacy Racing in his honor where his uncle, his son Kadyn and Berry all run under the same roof just as he would have wanted.

“My grandfather was a big part of all of our racing,” he said. “That’s why I built my car the way I did this year, literally around him. He is really why I keep doing ice racing. He told me a week prior to his accident that it was his favorite type of racing and I am buckling down and putting 110 percent into ice racing. Uncle Tunk and I both built tribute cars to grandpa to race on the ice this winter and we will keep carrying on it on our cars for years to come, even on the dirt.”

Berry is planning to expand ice racing in 2022 to include a Great Lakes region in Michigan, where they just tested and tuned on March 6 on Houghton Lake for the Chamber of Commerce.

“I had a couple guys out in the Midwest get ahold of me and would tell me this is really cool,” Berry said. “Let’s face it, out there they have a better sprint car population along with better weather and ponds. They have great potential to grow it and have it become a big deal.”

Berry is not alone in the expansion as he has help from local racers willing to do the groundwork to be under the Sprint Cars on Ice banner and make it as good, if not better than the New England division.

“I partnered up with a guy named Barry Marlow,” Berry said. “He owns a lot of sprint car series out there on dirt. He owns series from lighting sprints, non-wing and full size winged sprint cars. We came together and he’s gonna run under my Sprint Car on Ice banner. The Great Lakes Midwest region of my series has a lot of potential to be larger than our New England region.

“Barry has over 200 guys registered on dirt in the area in the summer and they’re are already up to 15 cars signed up for the ice. I think they could surpass the New England region in a year or two if I’m being honest.”

With ambition, a goal and some cooperation from Mother Nature herself, Sprint Cars on Ice seems to be headed in the right direction.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR and King’s Hawaiian have formed a multi-year track partnership that secures the family-owned bakery naming rights to dining areas at four NASCAR-owned facilities – Daytona Int’l Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Phoenix Raceway.

King’s Hawaiian will work with NASCAR’s track hospitality partner Levy to offer branded and regionally themed menu items at each venue. King’s Hawaiian celebrates the start of its NASCAR partnership March 12-14 during the fifth race weekend of the season at Phoenix Raceway where it will debut both the King’s Hawaiian Grill at Phoenix Raceway and the King’s Hawaiian Food Court at Phoenix Raceway.

“As King’s Hawaiian makes its first foray into motorsports, we welcome them to the NASCAR family,” said Frank Kelleher, senior vice president and chief sales officer, NASCAR. “Just like our sport, King’s Hawaiian brings people together, and we look forward to collaborating to enhance the fan dining experience at our race tracks.”

The bakery, known for its irresistible breads, was founded in 1950 by Robert R. Tiara, the son of Japanese immigrants, in Hilo, Hawaii. In the more than 70 years since, King’s Hawaiian has grown to serve the entire mainland United States and has expanded internationally.

“We’re excited to partner with NASCAR to share King’s Hawaiian bread with NASCAR’s extremely passionate fanbase,” said Chad Donvito, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer of King’s Hawaiian. “NASCAR is an American institution and a great partner to have as we continue to share the taste of Aloha throughout the United States.”