If you've ever watched a game of rugby closely, you'll probably have noticed several things. 1) The ball isn't round, but that's okay, because it matches the shape of the average player's head. 2) Fly halves are complete liars who never actually fly. 3) At every rugby match, someone, somewhere in the crowd is inflating a plastic blow-up doll.

EA Sports' latest version of Rugby is realistic, although not to the point of having sex dolls crowd-surfing around the stadium. It features all the official licensed players from the Rugby World Cup 2007 and a good number of competitions and leagues to challenge the rugger enthusiast, including the World Cup tournament itself and the Guinness Premiership.

In terms of play, the game is quite similar to Rugby 06 (the last version - 07 was skipped) but with some streamlining to various areas. As with Rugby 06, offload passes (where you stab a button to quickly pass the ball as you're being tackled) are a key element in keeping the game flowing, but EA has made further tweaks in this direction by automating the movement of players back onside. This means that the plentiful offside stoppages witnessed in Rubgy 06 are a thing of the past, and the action flows all the more smoothly for it.

Drop kicking has also been refined: it uses a brand new accuracy meter that makes it much easier to judge a kick (previously it was overly tricky). Set pieces have been tweaked as well, with more control available over scrums and mauls (pushing and wheeling), alongside a new system that's supposed to allow for more precise throws in line-outs. These are all minor but welcome adjustments, aside from the line-outs which are a bit too fiddly, though luckily you can switch to a "basic" mode that more or less automates them.

In terms of the defensive game, the computer now plays much tighter when you get down towards the goal-line, and this makes for a more challenging and realistic experience. Also, defensive formations have been added which can be adjusted on the fly. However, these aren't easy to get to grips with unless you know your rugby onions, as you've got to be able to recognise what the opposition is shaping up to do in order to call the correct formation.

This year's additional play mode is the World Cup Challenge, featuring historic matches with several objectives to be met, such as reversing an impending heavy defeat and bagging three drop goals with the same player, for example. Success unlocks new matches and rugby video clips, although it's slightly disappointing that EA chose to anachronistically use today's teams rather than the classic line-ups for these famous matches from the eighties and nineties.

While we're on the subject of disappointments, the interface remains the same Hellishly clunky beast as ever, and there's still no online play mode. Even so, there's no doubting this is a highly enjoyable rugger sim and some useful refinements have been made since the 06 version.

Rugby 08 isn't a huge step on from Rugby 06, but it does play a slightly smoother game with some added realistic touches. It remains a class rugby sim, but we'd really like to see the front-end overhauled and the addition of some multi-player features next time round.