Popham Delighted At Wales Call

Popham, who joined the Tykes this season from Newport said: “I’m extremely pleased to have been named in the squad but I am concentrating on Saturday for now. It was a big decision to move away from Wales but Phil Davies promised he would give me a chance and some game time and hopefully my form has rewarded that faith. One of the big considerations I had to make when I moved to Leeds was that it could have been a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ as far as the selectors were concerned but it is great that they have decided to pick me for the squad,

“The most important thing is your club form so I need to make sure that I continue that and hopefully I can help the Tykes get a place in the Heineken Cup, which would be a massive achievement for us in such a short space of time,” added Popham

The Newport-born back row forward was tipped as a potential Wales captain earlier in his career having played for Wales Schoolboys, skippered his country at under 21s level, played for Wales A and made it onto the bench for the full side against Scotland in the 2000 Six Nations as well as going on the Development tour to Japan that year.

Popham added: “The team has been playing well recently and that has made it easier to get my own form together. It will be great to be part of the tour and hopefully I can prove my worth and make the most of the opportunity.

Tykes Director of Rugby Phil Davies commented, “Alix is a very talented player and I had no doubt he had the ability to play international rugby when he came up here, given the right opportunity. He originally came to us last season on loan and I was delighted when he was able to sign for us this season. I’m sure he will be able to continue his form in the coming weeks and will learn from the opportunity to tour with the full squad.”