Alix Popham
Alix Popham played his club rugby for sides like Newport, Leeds Tykes and Brive

Alix Popham is a former Wales forward.

Popham was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2019.

He frequently talks to current players about their conditions.

Popham said that he had had brain scans and they weren't good.

Popham said that if it was him, he would take the decision of continuing to play from them.

  • LISTEN: The Sports Desk - Rugby's concussion crisis

Lawyers representing more than 185 former rugby union players, including Popham, have begun legal proceedings against the Rugby Football Union, the Welsh Rugby Union and World Rugby.

The group of players are being represented by a law firm.

Six former players, including Popham and Steve Thompson, began the process of a claim in December 2020.

When the legal action was launched, the sport's authorities stressed they cared about all their players and never stood still when it came to welfare.

They have mentioned their strategies to prevent, identify and manage head injuries.

It is not possible for us to comment further at this time, as we have not been served with the details of the claims against us.

In the week before the rugby union season began, Popham talked to ex- players.

It's difficult when I have phone calls from players I used to play with that are in a dark place.

Sometimes we've had to get professional help to their house on a Sunday night.

The real coalface that we're dealing with is some of the players. I know we helped one person, but there is more out there.

That is the reason we are doing this. The sport is going to die if we don't draw a line in the sand.

World Rugby defended its record on concussion and pointed to new protocols, including this season's roll-out of smart mouthguards that can measure the amount of head contact in matches and training.

World Rugby's chief medical officer Dr Eanna Falvey said if a player had declining neurological function doctors would be "obliged to investigate"

A person who has defined evidence of decreasing neurological function wouldn't be playing anymore. It's absolutely not.

The governing body tries to limit head injuries.

  • head injury assessments used during matches to see if a player is fit to continue
  • rest weeks introduced for internationals to limit their game time
  • concussed players have a minimum period of 12 days out of action after new rules were brought in this summer

World Rugby's independent concussion working group has researched rugby-specific concussions.

What else has World Rugby said?

Is it possible that we are doing as much as we can? I'm sure I am.

We are acting on all the data that we have. We're also making our own data. The only sport that has done this type of work is us.

All the teams in the women's top tier have been given mouthguards. Next year, we'll be doing the same in the Currie Cup.

We are leading the way and I'm sure we are doing as much as we can. As the information becomes available, we will act on it because we don't stand still.

Falvey wouldn't rule out changes to the laws of rugby in order to protect players.

He was asked if limiting the weight of players was an option. In New Zealand, we've seen that done successfully because of the differences in the development of children in different age groups.

"Anything we can do in a way that makes it safer to play the game and more attractive to play the game that allows people to get the benefit of being out there with the team should be on the table here."