Some of the animations I saw in the new release got me thinking, so I wanted to give my 2 cents. I’ll start by saying this - Rucks are a fundamental part of rugby union. Were all familiar with how rucks have worked and looked in rugby games up until now. For the most part this has been a static animation involving players “binding” which is reused for each breakdown.
Rugby 22 took a crack at improving the age old “bind” animation that we are used to seeing at the breakdown of every game. This was a great idea and I enjoy it when it works, but the implementation wasn’t perfect and it often wasn’t noticable. I think this is a core component of rugby union and this gameplay mechanic should be pursued.
I see a couple ways of doing it, both with different work effort and results. Essentially you can improve it a lot by doing a little, or you could go the extra mile and make this feature unreal.
First approach. Similar approach to 22 and the simplest way to make rucks way better. Introduce a variety of “static” ruck animations that include players performing a bind and getting scrapy. Push back and forth. Collapse the ruck etc. the more noticable the better. The ball stays in the ruck and the player has a consistent set amount of time at each breakdown to “use it”.
Second approach is to make the ruck more dynamic. Specifically, the clearout. This is a real kaleidoscope of possibilities but here’s my crack at it…
Players usually are only capable (and only attempt for that matter) to clear out a single player. Meaning rucks are usually a collection of 1 vs 1 contests. Sometimes, a “clear out” is not required. To be clear, a clear out is when a supporting player clears another player out of the ruck. This is usually a big impact move, equal to that of a tackle. It often involves the supporting player being cleared out themselves and no longer being “bound” to the ruck, which often results in the ball being out of the ruck and the play being live.
The choice to clearout and the effort invested is an important decision from the players point of view. On one hand, if you don’t, you risk losing the ball because a stronger player or a player with a good turnover ability like a flanker will take it if they’re not forcibly cleared out. On the other hand, committing to a clearout of a strong heavy player usually involves clearing yourself out of the ruck at the same time (no bind occurs). When this happens, the scrum half or whoever is there must use the ball as the ball is out of the ruck. This is often referred to as quick ball
This creates a gameplay mechanic where the player must risk losing the ball from a turnover at the breakdown, or securing the ball by binding and attempting to retain possession and allow your players to arrange etc. I think it boils down to a similar system as rugby challenge wherein there’s a heavy bind and a quick bind. Heavy bind usually shouldn’t result in a bind though. It should be a player basically tackling someone who’s trying jackal. A heavy impact animation.
I picture pressing B, for example, twice and having two players run in and sweep through the ruck, preventing the two defending players near the ruck from stealing the ball. All players are not bound to the ruck but the ball is retained. Immediately after this happens the halfback picks up the ball and the play is live again. Or, press A a couple times for a slow bind while we setup players on the open side etc. The slow bind, which retains possession, should also have a collection of animations. The more the better.
This is a very dynamic area of the real world game and I think emphasis should go into it. The first solution is a personal must have for a great current gen (2024) rugby game. I’d take other aspects of gameplay if it comes down to it but I smell opportunity in this area to make a sweet feature and do rugby some justice. Who doesn’t love doing a solid clearout in real life?