Popham pulls out of South Africa tour

May 2 2008 By Delme Parfitt

Wales back row forward Alix Popham has withdrawn from Wales' summer tour of South Africa as well as the training camp in Ireland next week.

Popham has cited his move to French rugby with Brive as the reason behind his decision - his switch from Llanelli Scarlets has now been confirmed.

Gatland will not be replacing him on the week long training camp which sees his squad together for the first time since their Six Nations Grand Slam.

Popham, capped 33 times, made WRU management 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.