{"id":9334,"date":"2016-02-26T11:51:23","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T11:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=9334"},"modified":"2016-02-26T11:51:23","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T11:51:23","slug":"france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/","title":{"rendered":"France lack mental toughness away from home, says ex-Wales star Popham"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>FORMER Welsh international back-rower Alix Popham has questioned whether France have the mental toughness to emerge victorious in Cardiff tonight.<br \/>\nThe French have historically been poor travellers, and have not won in Cardiff since a Friday night fixture in 2010.<br \/>\nThe former Scarlets favourite is well accustomed to the French psyche, having spent two seasons representing Brive in the Top 14.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9335\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9335\" style=\"width: 443px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Popham.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9335\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-9335\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Popham-300x194.jpg\" alt=\"Former Welsh international Alix Popham\" width=\"443\" height=\"286\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9335\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9335\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Popham-300x194.jpg\" alt=\"Former Welsh international Alix Popham\" width=\"443\" height=\"286\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> <strong>Former Welsh international Alix Popham<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n\u201cWhen I was with Brive the mentality in training before a home game was completely different to an away game,\u201d said the 33-times capped forward.<br \/>\n\u201cBefore a home game everyone was focussed, everybody\u2019s mind is on winning the game on Saturday.<br \/>\n\u201cI think maybe it\u2019s a lack of mental toughness, they get that from a young age, but away games are not as important as home games to the French.<br \/>\n\u201cThat\u2019s just the way it is in France.<br \/>\n\u201cIt is improving with the foreign influence in the Top 14, but there is going to be that 5% at the back of their mind that it\u2019s not a home game.\u201d<br \/>\nArguably the most controversial selection for tonight\u2019s test match, has been the decision to drop the super talented Justin Tipuric, for defensive linchpin Dan Lydiate.<br \/>\nThe 36-year-old said: \u201cI think Tipuric\u2019s been playing very well, and will be gutted not to be involved.<br \/>\n\u201cBut he\u2019s picked Sam as a captain, he\u2019s shown that he\u2019s a world class player over the last five years with Gatland, and you couldn\u2019t drop your captain like that.<br \/>\n\u201cSam\u2019s not playing badly, but I just think that Tipuric is playing a little better, but you can\u2019t drop your captain like that.\u201d<br \/>\nHowever, Popham echoed Gatland\u2019s claims that Lydiate is the right man to cut down France\u2019s powerful ball carriers.<br \/>\n\u201cI think with Lydiate he\u2019s done well when he\u2019s come on, but the game that they are going to be playing against the French, who are very physical, they need a player like Lydiate in,\u201d he said.<br \/>\n\u201cI think you\u2019ve got to take each game as it comes, and every game is different.<br \/>\n\u201cI think he\u2019s selected this side to beat France in Cardiff tonight, and next week will be looked at on the Monday.<br \/>\n\u201cIn terms of selection he can only go one game at a time and that\u2019s what he seems to be doing.\u201d<br \/>\nDespite expecting a stern French challenge, Popham believes that home advantage should see Wales keep their Championship hopes alive.<br \/>\n\u201cI think Wales will be too strong at home, and emerge 26-19 winners.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FORMER Welsh international back-rower Alix Popham has questioned whether France have the mental toughness to emerge victorious in Cardiff tonight. The French have historically been poor travellers, and have not won in Cardiff since a Friday night fixture in 2010. The former Scarlets favourite is well accustomed to the French psyche, having spent two seasons representing Brive in the Top 14. \u201cWhen I was with Brive the mentality in training before a home game was completely different to an away [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,4],"tags":[154,328,339],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-9334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rugby","category-sport","tag-rugby-2","tag-six-nations","tag-wales"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>France lack mental toughness away from home, says ex-Wales star Popham - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"France lack mental toughness away from home, says ex-Wales star Popham - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"FORMER Welsh international back-rower Alix Popham has questioned whether France have the mental toughness to emerge victorious in Cardiff tonight. The French have historically been poor travellers, and have not won in Cardiff since a Friday night fixture in 2010. The former Scarlets favourite is well accustomed to the French psyche, having spent two seasons representing Brive in the Top 14. \u201cWhen I was with Brive the mentality in training before a home game was completely different to an away [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-26T11:51:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Popham-300x194.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/\",\"name\":\"France lack mental toughness away from home, says ex-Wales star Popham - The Cardiffian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Popham-300x194.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-26T11:51:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Popham-300x194.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Popham-300x194.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/02\/26\/france-lack-mental-toughness-away-from-home-says-ex-wales-star-popham\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"France lack mental toughness away from home, says ex-Wales star Popham\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\",\"name\":\"The Cardiffian\",\"description\":\"Just another JOMEC Sites Network site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1\",\"name\":\"cathyduncan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/d4d0895f6e1f7ccb86d04236a870a18b\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cathyduncan\"},\"description\":\"Lecturer, Cardiff University News Journalism MA. 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