Real Rugby
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| Real Rugby

Thank heavens there isn't a direct equivalent of the penalty shootout in rugby; if there was, England would surely have found a way to spoon it at the semi-final stage of the last World Cup.

You can just imagine the Pizza Hut adverts starring Jonny Wilkinson�

Still, in the absence of a handy method to shatter the hopes of a nation, England stormed to victory instead. Although if we're honest, our hopes aren't high for holding onto the trophy in this year's tournament, if only for the outrageous reason that most of the other teams appear to be better at running, passing, kicking and poking people in the eye than we are. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.

Besides, Gameloft's Real Rugby does let us live the dream virtually, albeit with made-up tournament and player names (Tondall and Teet playing centre for England in the Euro 6 tournament? Great!).

But rugby is a tough sport to translate even on console, where you've got the luxury of bigger screens and more sophisticated controllers. So, on mobile, you might think making a decent rugger sim is a lost cause, especially if you played last year's disappointing RBS 6 Nations Rugby game.

Thankfully, the bods behind the slick Real Football series have applied their development magic to rugby, with the result being an absorbing and fun simulation - once you've got to grips with the controls. See, there's a full kicking game in Real Rugby, as well as mauls and line-outs. This is one title where you really do have to play through the tutorial in full before trying your hand at the main game.

But briefly, you use '4' and '6' to turn your player left and right when running with the ball (actually running is automatic), while pressing '5' to pass or dive over the line, and '8' to kick. Varying the latter two - for example, pressing for longer - triggers a different kind of pass or kick. Meanwhile, there are dedicated controls for mauls and line-outs, which involve pressing or holding '5' at the right moment.

If we're honest, we spent our first match playing like eejits, but it didn't take long for it all to click. It's fair to say rugby games are different to football, where a casual fan can have a bash on FIFA and enjoy it. To have fun with Real Rugby, you'll need a fairly educated knowledge of, well, real rugby.

Assuming that's the case, you'll find much to enjoy here. The inclusion of kicking gives a new dimension to the gameplay, enabling you to hoof and hope, if that's your preferred playing style. And the different kinds of pass mean you'll soon be making the kind of flowing passing moves that characterised Wales' recent Grand Slam season (before they, like England, got rubbish again in time for the World Cup).

There's loads of tournaments and leagues to try your hand at, too, from the aforementioned Euro 6 (yep, 6 Nations) through to the Int Cup (World Cup) and South Cup (Tri-Nations). Plus, there's even local leagues, giving you the chance to play as the likes of Bath, Wasps (sorry, 'London Black') and Castres.

As we said, Real Rugby isn't for casual egg-chasing fans, even though there'll be plenty of them about in this World Cup year. But if you're a dedicated follower, you'll get a lot out of it � and you'll still be playing long after the actual World Cup has finished.

Real Rugby

Absorbing sim that does a great job of boiling down rugby's complexities into an accessible game
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Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)