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.
[1] 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.
[5] 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.
[9] 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.
[10] 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.
[18] 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.
[25] 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 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.
[37] The 2009–10 season, Popham played twice against his former club in the Heineken Cup, having been drawn in the same pool, although he went off with an elbow injury after half an hour of the first match on 10 October 2009.
[38][39] After the 2010–11 season, Popham had intended to return to Wales, but after shoulder reconstruction surgery, he received medical advice to retire from professional rugby.
His first taste of senior international rugby came in March 2000, when an injury to Scott Quinnell saw him called up to the bench for Wales' 26–18 win over Scotland in the Six Nations, though he did not come on.
[64] Wales lost the match 53–18, and Popham had to be substituted shortly after half-time after being knocked out in a tackle with Jacques Cronjé; he was replaced by hooker Huw Bennett as a makeshift back-rower.
[67] Popham was named in the Wales squad for the 2004 Autumn internationals,[68] but had to wait until the final match against Japan to play, missing out on a comfortable win over Romania and narrow defeats to South Africa and New Zealand.
[88] A red card while playing for the Scarlets put Popham's eligibility for Wales' summer tour to Argentina in doubt, but the two-week ban he ultimately received meant he would be available for both tests.
[89] With Michael Owen rested for the tour and ultimately undergoing shoulder surgery,[90] Popham and Gareth Delve were the only specialist number 8s included in the squad picked by his former Scarlets coach, Gareth Jenkins, who was leading Wales for the first time,[91] and having filled the role in the final game of the Six Nations, Popham was expected to be the first-choice number 8 for the test series.
[93] In addition to his yellow card, Popham was accused of foul play for an off-the-ball tackle on Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma, putting a target on his back for the second test.
[95] Because of a shoulder injury to Delve and Owen's ongoing rehabilitation,[96] Ryan Jones was Popham's only competition at number 8 in the initial squad announced for the 2006 Autumn internationals.
[103] Despite his limited involvement for Wales in the autumn, Popham's performances for the Scarlets made him a leading contender to feature heavily in the 2007 Six Nations.
[122] He was named on the bench for the opening match against England as Gatland picked 13 Ospreys players in his starting XV, including Ryan Jones at number 8.
[127] He was due to be part of the official Grand Slam team photograph after Wales' final-day win over France, but traffic meant he was unable to make it back to the Millennium Stadium; his absence sparked rumours that he had fallen out with the Wales coaching staff, but he was later invited to be part of the squad that toured South Africa in the summer, only to decline the opportunity due to his impending move from the Scarlets to Brive.
[133] In March 2007, Popham was involved in a road collision with a pedestrian in Cardiff city centre, while travelling to a training session at the Millennium Stadium.