Rugby World Cup 2011

GAME OF THE WEEK:7 Cert PS3 (also Xbox)/505 games ****

As far as sports games go, rugby is probably the most under-represented in major console titles. While football fans have Fifaand Pro Evo, golf fans get Tiger Woods PGAevery year and the Madden series sorts out the American football fans, as far as the next-gen consoles go, Rugby 08was the extent of the sport's representation.

So anticipation was high for Rugby World Cup 2011. And for the most part, the game tackles all the challenges head on, although it may falter once or twice.

You are limited to the 20 teams that are taking part in the upcoming World Cup. although you do have the option to play a few different modes, from the full tournament to international tests, and a warm-up tour. If you want a quick rugby fix, you can try the place-kick shootout, which is harder than you’d think.

Visually, Rugby World Cupis pretty good. The various stadiums around the world have been rendered for the game – including the Aviva – and are pretty faithful to their real-world counterparts.

The developers have also licensed some of the teams – 10, Ireland included – so you’ll see a few familiar faces. You have to get your head around the controls for when you’re in scrums, turning over the ball, or even just in a line-out. Things aren’t always as slick as they could be - scoring a try was a little hit and miss at the start, even when you were way over the line. And more than once I found myself mystified as to why I’d had a penalty awarded against my team, though the “tackle everyone – hard” approach may have had something to do with it.

But Rugby World Cupis hugely addictive. There's room for improvement, but neglected rugby fans will find it's definitely worth playing.