If you're having problems breaking through the defending team's backline, you can even have the scrum half take a box kick and have the loose forwards pursue it.

You can also press both shoulder buttons to send it deep to the fly half (and if they're out of position, the full-back) for a kick at goal or touch. Holding a shoulder button causes face button symbols to appear above players in the back line, making it easier to send the ball to whichever back you desire. Once the ball is in the hands of the scrum half, myriad options open up. In these confrontations, the size and power of the player's forwards are really brought into play.

During scrums, a semi-circle appears at the rear of the player's pack, and then it's a matter of flicking both sticks forward at timed intervals to drive over the ball. In mauls and rucks, players can tap A for a quick bind - bringing in fewer players faster, allowing for a brief gain of ground - or B for a strong bind, meaning players will arrive a little slower, but will bring more power to the ruck when they do. However, you have greater control over passing and kicking, while rucks, mauls and scrums aren't so randomly decided. Rugby Challenge has a few things in common with its competition players still pass the ball with the shoulder buttons, the kicks and tackles are mapped to the face buttons and rucks still involved a bit of button bashing.

(And just in case anyone thinks we're being mean about the former England full back, that metaphor was inspired by an Achievement in the game called The Catt Memorial Service.) This offering from Wellington-based developer Sidhe isn't perfect and it isn't always pretty, but in terms of offering a more compelling, deeper and altogether better rugby video game, it runs over RWC2011 easier than Lomu himself ran over Mike Catt in the 1995 World Cup semi-final. Rugby Challenge does indeed feature the Haka, presumably as part of the license deal with the New Zealand rugby team, and that's not all it has going for it.

Which brings us neatly to Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge, the second - and only other - rugby sim released all year.

Rugby challenge 3 sound doesn't work