Rugby. I don't know. I'm just not a rugby person. I might have the build, but I don't think I like the concept of dozens of heavy men standing on you with their studded boots. It is more of a hands-on game, isn't it? Maybe if we could get some girls to play, I wouldn't mind diving on top of… oh forget it! Football players are on a smashing wage and the game really isn't that dangerous, while rugby players aren't paid a great deal and the risks are high. Like I said above, rugby is more of a hands-on game, yet the simulation, Rugby 06, couldn't be any further away from that statement if it tried. Come back FIFA, all is forgiven.

10:20am. Just had breakfast, think I'm going to head on the pitch now and take a tutorial on how to play Rugby 06. I'll tell you what it's like in a few moments.

10:54am. Well that was boring. There was this dull South African guy explaining in an almost robotic voice how to play the game. I learnt almost nothing. Pass the ball to the right, pass the ball to the left, right, gotcha. I also learnt how to sprint and tackling is just sprinting into somebody by occasionally pressing the action button. There were some unclear instructions on how to retrieve the ball from a pile on, you can make nearby players bind to the pile - the more players you have, the more likely you are to fish the ball out of the pile. The scrum system seems a little boring too. The ball gets passed in and then you press one button to hook it and then a direction button to push the opposite team away. This was just a tutorial though; it's not supposed to be fun, is it?

11:00am. Well, FIFA had a fun tutorial. I hope that tutorial isn't a sign of things to come. Just looking through the modes here, what have we got? Well, the menu system looks neat enough. EA have always done a good job with menus though - and hey, there's a music track I know too. This is restoring my faith, I must admit. There seems to be little in the way of modes on the surface here. You can jump in a game with Play Now, but then in the game modes there is an option to start a new tournament. Ah, here we go. Nine tournaments here, including the important World Championship and the Guinness Premiership. God I hate Guinness. Guess we'll play some Championship then, I'll get back to you soon.

12:33pm. I don't believe it. I mean, I'm not a control freak or anything, but I hardly felt my fingers press the buttons there. I felt like I did when I was playing real rugby back at school; like a spare part. I'm not kidding either. I started with the ball, passed it back a few times, tried to run forward with it, got tackled, everybody piled on, they got the ball, I tackled them, everybody piled on, I got the ball, I got tackled, everybody piled on… can you see a pattern emerging here? I can. And when everybody does pile on, it's not exactly that eventful either. You just press the same button a few times to pile on your men, and then the pass button to get it out of there, if the opponent hasn't already got it. I'm going to explore the tournament mode a little more, but at the moment I'm a little disappointed with the gameplay.

12:36pm. It looks as if, before you go into the matches, you can pick your team and CPU controlled teams - you can then alter the squad, the fixtures, the standings, and view your statistics, but that seems to be it. I cannot believe this; I had high expectations from EA. If it was anything like FIFA and you just passed the ball from hand to hand instead of passing the ball foot to foot, well, it might have been cool. But I just cannot live with this.

In just over two hours, I had already come to a conclusion about this game. It's just too slow-paced to be called a game. While it might provide an accurate simulation, the overall feel of the game just turns out boring. Besides, nobody can simulate the mud, the sweat, the blood and the pain, four things associated with rugby. Not that those are four things I enjoy about rugby, but the game and the whole team spirit feeling you get from a real life match just doesn't translate well onto the screen. EA are always on top with their sports simulations, but this probably is a sport they should overlook. I did spend more time with the game than two hours, of course, but my initial conclusion remained unchanged. It's just not interactive or enjoyable enough to warrant a play.

The graphics in Rugby 06 are also a massive letdown. The menu system looks like a black and white Rugby strip and I like to look of this, but that's the only thing I like looking at. On the actual pitch, the camera is so zoomed out that you can hardly feel the action, when it does eventually come around to action I might add, at all. When you get into a scrum, or a pile up, you're looking at it so far zoomed out that it doesn't even look like a pile of men fighting tooth and nail for a ball. Musically the game is great, with music from artists we know (and some we don't) but EA Trax does a good job of filling the blank spaces with some fitting music. Sound effects are good enough, but the commentary sounds a little robotic for my liking, just like that guy who did the voiceover for the tutorial.

Real life rugby, for me, was like a game of hot potato. I got the ball and couldn't wait to pass it to another person in fear of getting tackled. I came into Rugby 06 with an open mind, I was hoping for the FIFA engine with rugby elements and I was let down. So now, like a classic game of Rugby, I cannot wait to pass this game to somebody who can handle the tackle - somebody who doesn't comprehend the meaning of great gameplay and somebody who hasn't been treated to fast-paced, fun titles like FIFA, which I personally would define as a proper videogame.

Catch!

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).