Brive's Alix Popham has announced that the coming season will be his last in France, but the Welsh international has valued his experience at Stade Amedée-Domenech, despite the club's traditionally unorthodox training sessions.

"It’s been good, but I think this will be my final year," Popham told the Western Mail.

"When I went to Brive I always said I would stay for three years, that’s why I re-signed with them for this season.

"I can speak ‘monkey’ French and get by, but it’s tough.

"Playing in France is very different to playing in Wales or when I was with Leeds in England.

"There’s a real home mentality. You can see the difference in training before a home match.

"You have players butting each other before games and the coaches can get involved.

"It’s different, but you have to just got to get on with it and the atmosphere with the crowds is unbelievable.

"At Bayonne they were humming the English national anthem when Andy Goode was kicking at goal. It was surreal, something I won’t forget."

30-year-old Popham, who has made 45 appearances in two years and scored one try for the 1997 Heineken Cup winners, still hopes to win a recall to the Welsh squad after three years in the wilderness, but told the Western Mail that he wished the Welsh regions had the support of France's top teams.

"The crowds are immense. Brive is a small town yet our average gate last season was more than 13,000 for a 15,000-seater stadium," he said.

"Supporters are on your back and it’s intimidating, but it’s good.

"Back home, we haven’t got the same support base for the Welsh regions as we have for the Wales team.

"It’s a pity because it would be nice not to see so many empty seats at the new stadiums of the Ospreys, Blues and Scarlets."