RBS 6 Nations Rugby 2008

It's fairly traditional – in England if not across the whole of Britain – that we only get behind any sport that isn't football if we're doing well at it. Ski jumping, marathon running, tennis… they're all completely off the radar until suddenly someone shows some promise of international success and then, before you know it, ski jumping fever has swept the country.

So – based on the current 6 Nations table at the time of writing – rugby fever looks unlikely to be setting in any time soon in England, although the Welsh should be quite pleased with themselves.

Nevertheless, the true rugby fans out there might be interested in the official mobile game of the sporting event, RBS 6 Nations Rugby, even if their fair weather counterparts are likely to still be wearing their Joe Calzaghe T-shirts.

Unfortunately, last year's instalment of the game wasn't the most impressive representation of real life rugger. On the plus side, surely things could only get better for 2008's edition? And there have certainly been improvements in padding out what was previously something of a disappointingly basic game.

At its core, though, 6 Nations is still a fairly sparse simulation. The official tournament is authentic enough and teams such as New Zealand and Argentina make an appearance in the Friendly Match option but the only difference between the squads is their colours – the individual players and their strengths and weaknesses don't appear to feature.

Which maybe isn't hugely unexpected for a mobile title, but that doesn't stop you hoping for a bit more from the game itself. There's no denying it's playable, although not for being in any way similar to the real game – 6 Nations has a far more strategic and robotic feel to it. It's rare you feel you have much control over individual players; instead the game's skill comes from knowing when to pass and when not to, and when the best time is to simply boot it long down the field for a line-out.

For the most part, there's enough to the game for this restrictive dynamic to be sufficient. When you're tackled, a bar appears onscreen and hammering '5' fast enough pushes your opponent away. Scrums and mauls are dealt with in a similar fashion, while line-outs call for a moving bar to be stopped centrally for an accurate throw. Successfully scoring conversions uses a combination of stopping both an accuracy and power bar.

Special moves also crop up in the game. Hold the ball for long enough and a rugby ball icon gradually fills and begins flashing. At that point, pressing '5' can activate a number of helpful moves, such as a sprint if you're alone on the field, a charge straight through the defence if they're closing in or a long dive if you're approaching the score line.

It's a good touch, but in contrast to the game's other weaker areas. Such as the inability to move left or right to dodge defenders when one of your players has the ball. You're instead left at the mercy of the game's AI, hoping other team members will be there to pass to.

When defending, the game feels even less in your control. You can only hope you have a player near the opponent with the ball and that you can highlight them in time to pull off a tackle. Games are fiercely fought and adrenaline-charged but all too often the opposition scores and you feel you couldn't have stopped them, while you end up scoring jammy tries after one of your players manages to run the whole length of the pitch by himself.

It's not a bad game, then, if you can forgive the lack of realism and distinctly average visuals and sounds. It also benefits from being easy to get to grips with. But a lack of depth and options means that after a couple of hours' you're unlikely to find much incentive to keep going.