Alix Popham

He was dropped to the bench for the next game, a 25–23 away defeat to Glasgow, coming on for Nathan Thomas in the 57th minute.

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 played for them 89 times between 1998 and 2002, when he signed for Leeds Tykes.

After an initial, six-week loan spell during the 2001–02 season, Popham joined Leeds permanently in October 2002 after activating a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave Newport if they signed an international back-row forward, which they did in the form of Steve Ojomoh.

Although Newport could have held onto Popham until December 2002, they elected to let him leave early after not registering him to play in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup.

At the end of the season, Leeds qualified for the wildcard playoffs for the final English place in the Heineken Cup; despite Popham scoring a try in the second leg to give Leeds a 27–13 win, they lost 70–48 on aggregate.

In April 2004, Popham signed a new, two-year contract with Leeds amid interest from Welsh clubs about a return to Wales.

The following season, he helped them win the 2004–05 Powergen Cup, starting in the 20–12 win over Bath in the final.

He spent three years in England before returning to Wales with the Llanelli Scarlets in 2005.

In the summer of 2005, Popham returned to Wales, signing for the Scarlets as a replacement for the retiring Scott Quinnell after being released from his Leeds contract early.

He played in 24 of the Scarlets' first 26 games of the season before suffering an injury early in the 36–17 win over the Dragons on 22 April that saw him miss the next two matches.

He scored his first try for the Scarlets in their 15–13 win over Edinburgh Gunners in the Heineken Cup.

His second Scarlets try came in the return fixture against Edinburgh, but it was not enough to prevent a 33–32 defeat that eliminated the Scarlets from the competition.

In February 2006, the Scarlets appealed to the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the release of some of their key players, including Popham, from the Wales squad involved in the 2006 Six Nations for their Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final tie with Bath on 4 March.

The Scarlets won 27–26 at the Millennium Stadium, with Popham giving a man-of-the-match performance to reach his second straight Powergen Cup final.

Less than a minute into the final, Popham collided with Wasps flanker Johnny O'Connor, who was knocked out and had to be stretchered off, having suffered a spinal concussion.

Despite Wasps having to make an early change and also being temporarily reduced to 14 men during the first half, the Scarlets lost the match 26–10.

On 9 May 2006, Popham scored both of the Scarlets' tries in an 18–6 win over Munster.

The following weekend, he was sent off in the Scarlets' 17–10 loss to Glasgow Warriors; after initially being sin-binned for a high tackle in the first half, he received a second yellow card for his reaction to a decision by referee George Clancy, ruling him out of the Scarlets' final game of the season and putting his eligibility for Wales' tour to Argentina in doubt.

Popham began the 2006–07 season on the bench for the Scarlets, at the request of the WRU, but soon returned to the starting line-up despite competition from Nathan Thomas, signed in the summer from Popham's former club, Leeds.

Popham's involvement in the Wales squad saw him miss the Scarlets' games during the Autumn internationals and the Six Nations, but he was their first-choice number 8 when available, though he was rested for the 29–10 loss against the Cardiff Blues on New Year's Day due to the congested fixture schedule.

He played in all six of the Scarlets' Heineken Cup pool matches, scoring the first of their five tries in the penultimate game against Ulster on 13 January.

They won all six pool matches to qualify for the quarter-finals, where they beat Munster 24–15, before losing 33–17 to Leicester Tigers in the semi-finals.

Due to his involvement with Wales at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Popham missed the start of the 2007–08 season with the Scarlets.

He made his first appearance of the season off the bench in an 18–11 loss to Bristol in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

He returned to the starting line-up in the next game at home to former club Leeds, scoring the Scarlets' fourth try in a 59–19 win before being substituted at half-time.

He missed the league defeat to Edinburgh on 25 November as he was on Wales duty for their test against South Africa, but again returned to the bench for the 36–32 win over Saracens the following week, albeit as an unused substitute.

He came on for Dafydd Jones in the second half of a 29–16 home defeat to Munster in the Heineken Cup on 8 December, before returning to the starting line-up for the return match on 16 December.

He committed a pair of high tackles in the game and was sin-binned for the second as the Scarlets lost 22–13 and had their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals extinguished.

He had to be substituted after half an hour of the next game, a 17–12 win over the Ospreys, and ended up missing the next three games.

In 2008, he moved to France to play for Brive and was made captain ahead of the 2009–10 season.

Before the end of his first season there, Popham signed a contract extension with the Scarlets, keeping him at the region until the end of the 2008–09 season.

He returned for the final Heineken Cup pool match at home to Clermont on 15 January 2008, coming on for Dafydd Jones at half-time in the 41–0 loss.

He missed the game against Glasgow due to his involvement in the 2008 Six Nations, but was granted leave from Wales duty for the Scarlets' away game against Ulster on 29 February.

He again came off the bench for the second half, but could not prevent a 20–8 loss.

He returned to the starting line-up for the next three games, picking up a yellow card in the last of them, a 35–26 away defeat to the Blues.

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.

Born in Newport, Popham began his career with Newport RFC.