Next EA Sports Rugby game?

When is the next EA Sports Rugby game coming out? There was no rugby game in the 09 series and there doesn’t seem to be a Rugby ’10 either.

And what would you like to see in the next edition of EA Sports Rugby? I’ve made a list of what I’d like in the next rugby game (in no particular order):

1: Get rid of the "Star Players" option. Nobody likes it.

2: Make sure players are labeled with the right positions (eg: Piri Weepu and Hernandez to have "Fly-Half" as one of their positions, which they don’t in Rugby 08. And Tamati Ellison to have "Fullback" and "Wing" etc…)

3: Be less harsh when players are out of position (Because in Rugby 08 when a player is "out-of-position", their name goes red and they make lots of handling errors. This is a problem because many players do not have all of the right positions equipped to them, and it stops you from playing them there.)

4: Get more licences for teams and competitons. (Especially for the Heineken Cup, Magners League and Top 14). It’s annoying playing with ficticious teams like "Neath Swansea" (unregistered Ospreys), "Paris" (Stade Francais), and "Brescia" (Rugby Calvisano).

5: Better player and stadium accuracy (Stephen Donald looks nothing like his animated character, Cory Jane doesn’t have a bald patch and Wynand Olivier should have long blonde hair, not short brown. Westpac Stadium has its tunnels in the wrong places. Just a bit more accuracy, please, EA Sports?)

6: Francois Steyn’s Kicking Power > 95 (He’s rated a pathetic 74 or something…).

7: The Hurricanes are NOT the Super 14 wooden spooners. They need a rating much higher than 69. At least make them better than English second-division relegators Bristol. Please.

8: New Zealand Rugby World Cup 2011 stadiums. (Or at least have North Harbour Stadium, Rotorua, Yarrow and Invercargill)

9: Bring back the B&I Lions and the NZ Maori.

10: More stadiums from the Pacific, Japan, Namibia and the European minnow countries (eg: Russia and Romania). Give each International team a stadium from their own country.\

11: More competitions (eg: Pacific Nations Cup, Air New Zealand Cup, Magners League, Top 14, Currie Cup, European Nations Cup and the Top League). I’m not demanding ALL of them, but it would be nice to have more tournaments in the game.

Well, that’s about all (I just realised how long my list is)… I was wondering if anyone had anything to add to that list or that they disagreed with, so all comments welcome!
Yes, I do have Rugby 08 on PS2. I think its great game so don’t let my criticism put you off it.
Yes, I do have Rugby 08 on PS2. I think its great game so don’t let my criticism put you off it.

I agree with everything that you have said, I have some other additions to make:

Firstly make the game a lot harder, clashes between SA and NZ are way to easy, and to score a bonus point (4 tries) is way to easy!

Player ratings must be improved, any player that has represented his country and is part of the top 5 ranked team should have no players with a rating below 80. Impact players should lose the star but should have impact player as a bonus ability (besides Ronan O’Gara, he made one hell of an impact on the 2nd test Lions Test )

I agree about Frans. Steyn, he should be able to slot goals from 60m out, however players (like Johnny Wilkonsin) shouldn’t be allowed to kick a ball from their own 5m line and land the ball near the opponents 5m line, its very unrealistic…

Defensive organisation must be better. The drop goal thing must be made way harder, but easier for players like Morne Steyn and Johnny Wilkinson. There should be at least 3 players standing back to catch the ball when kicked by a flyhalf (how often does a flyhalf in a real game, kick a ball perfectly into space and turn the fullback? Once maybe?) And they should obvisouly catch the ball..

Fetchers and rucking etc must be made better, McCaw even with his star doesn’t fetch balls like he does in reality. Combiniations must be made, like Bakkies Both and Victor Matfield.

Oh! And fix the things like a penatly for a bad throw in at the lineout and scrums must be more competitive. I wanna see the ref in the game as well, not just in replays etc…

Players with more than 50 caps for their country should have ratings of over 85. And side stepping should be a lot lot harder, even Habana doesn’t step that great in real life, bouncing players and handing off must be made harder and dive tackle as well as high tackles must be fixed (how many times, in reality, does a player dive tackle the flyhalf as he kicks…… uh never! And this close line high tackle! I wasn’t aware I was buying NFL!?)

Overall there are a lot of things to fix! All and all its actually, a very s**t game if you think about it. I don’t mind if they take 3 years to bring out the next game, just make it waaaaaaay better! There was like no improvement between Rugby 06 and Rugby 08, hardly any of the players ratings changed.