Wales back row forward Alix Popham has withdrawn from coach Warren Gatland’s Whites of Wexford training camp in Ireland next week and has also made himself unavailable for the two-Test summer tour to face World Champions South Africa in Bloemfontein and Pretoria this June.
Popham’s pending move from Llanelli Scarlets to French club Brive has been cited as the reason for his withdrawal and Gatland will not be replacing him on the week long training camp which gathers his squad together for the first time since their RBS Six Nations 2008 Grand Slam triumph.
The 33-times capped international had, however, made WRU management personnel aware of talks already taking place regarding a potential transfer before the new selection strategy – which states that the location of any team a player is contracted to will be an important factor in their future prospects for international selection – was put into place and so will not be affected by the strategy.
