Alix Popham

Alix Jon Popham (born 17 October 1979) is a Welsh former rugby union player who played as a number eight or flanker. Born in Newport, he began his career with Newport RFC in 1998, before moving to Leeds Tykes in 2002. He spent three years in England before returning to Wales with the Llanelli Scarlets in 2005. In 2008, he moved to France to play for Brive and was made captain ahead of the 2009–10 season. He retired due to injury at the end of the 2010–11 season, having made over 250 appearances in 13 years as a professional. He also played internationally for the Wales national team, earning 33 caps.

Alix Popham

Birth name	Alix Jon Popham
Date of birth	(1979-10-17) 17 October 1979 (age 43)
Place of birth	Newport, Wales
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	108 kg (17 st 0 lb)
School	Pentrepoeth Primary, Bassaleg Grammar School
Children	Holly May, Isobel Rose and Darcey Jacqueline
Rugby union career
Position(s) Number eight, flanker Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1998–2002 2002–2005 2005–2008 2008–2011 Newport Leeds Tykes Llanelli Scarlets Brive 89 51 62 67 (40) (10) (30) (15) National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2003–2008 Wales Under-21 Wales A Wales 33 (20) Correct as of 09:30, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Career

Before moving up to the full Welsh squad, Popham captained the Wales Under-21 team and played for Wales 'A'. He moved from Leeds Tykes to the Scarlets in the summer of 2005.^[1] During his time at Leeds he helped them win the 2004–05 Powergen Cup, the final of which he started.^[2] He made his international debut for Wales in June 2003 against Australia. He was also capped another three times before being included in Wales' 2003 Rugby World Cup squad. He played two matches during the tournament.

The following season he played in the 2004 Six Nations Championship, as well as being capped against South Africa in June, and against Japan in November. He played two internationals in 2005, and was capped five times in 2006, in the Six Nations, and against Romania in June.

He is well known for his block-busting tackles, including a tackle on Joe Maddock in an Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final against Bath in the 2005–06 season. The centre broke through the Llanelli line, and Popham hit him from side-on, knocking the ball out of Maddock's hands in the process. In Popham's next appearance, Wasps flanker Johnny O'Connor was knocked out after he ran into Popham's chest.

Honours

Club

Leeds

• Anglo-Welsh Cup (1): 2005

Life after rugby

Following his retirement from rugby, Popham went into business, specialising in social media and business networking. In April 2020, he was diagnosed with early onset dementia; doctors estimated his brain had suffered up to 100,000 sub-concussions over the course of his 14-year professional career.^[3]

Together with Steve Thompson and Michael Lipman, Popham filed legal claims against the Rugby Football Union, the Welsh Rugby Union and World Rugby for the injuries they sustained during the game.^[4]

References

1. "Leeds agree Popham's Scarlet move". BBC Sport. 28 March 2005. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
2. "Bath 12-20 Leeds". BBC. 16 April 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
3. "Alix Popham: Ex-Wales flanker on early onset dementia diagnosis". BBC Sport. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
4. "Six more former players join concussion lawsuit". Planet Rugby. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.

External links

• Scarlets profile
• WRU profile
• LinkedIn profile