Rugby 25 Megathread

[sinbad06]

PC Steam Hardest

Ok so following the latest patch the good news is that the game breaking bugs have been rectified. So far, penalties seem to be alot better balanced as well, and you can now hold the ball a bit better without being automatically pinged.

With the rucks the AI can still retain the ball for bit too long for my liking, and the delay in joining the ruck really needs to be looked at. It we could steal the ball just a little bit more then i think it would be more realistic.

The ruck logic should really be that if you smash the opposition back behind line a few times, or they are not making any ground over multiple phases, then the ball should be turned over or a penalty given for holding on. If you make consistent metres over the gainline, then so long as you are not completely isolated, then there should be a bias in favour of retaining possession. Please look into this, as it gives the player a reward for good offensive or defensive capabilities. it also gives clarity to how the momentum in the game is going, and then you can make the choice whether to kick or not before the inevitable turnover.

I’m guessing the AI have to be able to hold on for so long because they are still playing a very one dimensional game close to the rucks and have no other choice. Whilst their behaviour is decent at this part of the game, if they could just add tactical kicking to their repotoire it would add much greater depth . That and the abiility to add more width to their play. I believe there two things would really improve the experience.

Can the team also look at kicking off the tee. It seems so hit and miss at the moment; even the AI are regularly missing sitters. i’m not why it changed to be honest as there was nothing wrong with what we had a few versions ago.

As always, thanks to the team for their efforts. The game is at least quite enjoyable again.

[Lionmaul]

Played the lates updat 4/30/25 xbox-s on medium then hard. Won both games the first by 47 points second by 28 points. Two evenly rated teams Argentina vs Kiwi.

First , review of Rucks will say what I said last statement , it is improving some but need more of this.

Big Ant ! you have a big advantage over Rugby challenge 3 and 4. You have better push over counter ruck animations, use them! Don’t use the passive add 3-5 players turnover, use the push over animation for the counter ruck. Split the counter ruck button, up from the steal button. Let us determine which of the two to use, or if we fail at quick steal/jackle, we can pile on players for a counter ruck if the offense takes too long, I don’t know how it happened but twice in the last game I played , i did not get the steal but I sent 4 defensive players in to their 3 in the ruck and we pushed them over for a counter ruck because the AI was taking to long to play the ball. (This looked great) I see the meter is helping with knowing when the turnover is going to happen, can be as simple as pressing a counter ruck button at the right time when you have the meter in your favor, different button from the quick steal, and if you do try a quick steal while the ruck has formed and while more players joined the ruck, you either get hand in ruck penalty or a cheat steal, (this is when the rare passive ruck turnover animation can happen, even with 1-5 players) otherwise the better choice once the ruck forms would be a counter ruck move, (if you do the counter ruck while the meter is low then you could be called for a ruck penalty, coming in from the side or a crocodile roll, again would not have to have the exact animation, just a way of adding some penalties at the ruck breakdown. Rucks are coming along, just a little more matching the correct animation with the correct effect. The animations are there , they just got match the action. But still have to fix the (tackle B) (contest Y) and (steal x) (on xbox)combo , in the history of playing this game , have only had it happen once, the animation for tackle, stand and stealing has to be faster (like Rugby challenge 3 or 4) and if your able to stay standing while tackling with Y high tackle or left shoulder button , you should have an even better chance at the contested tackle success. ( of course the players stats would come into play as well).

Fend is still to powerful, make it a timed button thing instead of hold button down thing. (It makes not point at using any of the other offensive moves) the other moves are not effective. Sidesteps have to have a faster animation.

Up and Under have been improved but need an even higher trajectory with skilled players.

Ai needs to use more attacking variations and skill moves like the sidestep and barge and kicking attacks. (this is in there rugby league games , so it should show up in the Rugby game)

Rucks and Mauls have to have a better reward system, Mauls should have some penalties. (good systems just not fully implemented)

Having said all that, at times it does have some really nice highlight real run and pass flow rugby.

On one of the better notes, the grubber kick which can be exploited in just about all other Rugby games , is done very good in this game, and it is a good challenge to pull one of.

Thank you Big Ant for continuing to improve the game, it may take a while but we will get there. Each time I am enjoying it a little more.

[AndreCompaan]

Rugby 25 promotes itself as a game that captures the true essence of rugby:

“Experience the rush as Rugby 25 immerses you in the world of rugby like no game before it. Every pass, every tackle, and every try flawlessly crafted to capture the true essence of rugby.”

Based on their claims and the gameplay, I must say that the game falls significantly short.

Beyond the fundamental mechanics, such as scrums, line-outs, rucks, and mauls, which are quite problematic, the core aspects of rugby—attacks, running, and passing—are also poorly executed. These issues have been present since early access and have been frequently reported, yet it appears that Big Ant has not effectively addressed or improved these fundamental areas. Whether this is due to lack of effort or passion is unclear.

It is concerning when a company advertises their game as embodying the true essence of rugby, only for it to reflect a very different reality. The current state of the game does not align with that promise.

Furthermore, despite ongoing player feedback and attempts to see improvements, the fundamental issues remain unaddressed. History shows that meaningful change often requires decisive action; for example, Rassie Erasmus transformed the Springboks’ management structure, leading to consecutive World Cup victories. Success often requires tackling core problems directly, rather than making minor adjustments or superficial fixes.

If the core mechanics of your game are fundamentally flawed, the solution is to overhaul them rather than attempt to patch a broken system. If the developers are unwilling to take such steps, they should reconsider their marketing claims, as presenting the game as a true reflection of rugby is misleading.

And this will be my final attempt to try to help the developers as these stuff has been mentioned many times:

General attacking play (this for me is the most important when it comes to the feel of the game)

1 - Player positioning

Players is often randomly spaced out and spread out on the field. This makes passing from one player to another feels unrealistic and cluncky.

This is an example of how it should be when playing the blind side from a ruck:

This is what we get in the game:

(No support no proper player positioning. Players are too deep)

Another example of proper player positioning:

And this is what we get:

I don’t even know why is that player standing behind the other player.

2 - Support runners

The problem i see most of the time when passing for a player the player receiving the ball is sprinting onto the ball while the support players is fixing their shoes or just standing still this leaves support players to deep.

This is an example of how it should look like when you break a line:

This is Rugby 25:

This is what’s happening when you try to run with the ball ( supporting players either stand still and fix their shoes or they run totally the opposite direction as you or they just stand still.)

[JNT_BA]

It’s something that I brought up in a meeting i had today.

[Plaasvark]

Please don’t do a quick patch. Last time we got a quick patch it broke the game. Please look at implementing the correct laws of rugby union first. Fix the AI, fix player positioning.

[Bosswolf]

Thats true , this group is going to go on for many more months like this , fix that , fix this !! i am also on the cricket 24 platform , guys still complaining there , so there we go !! I sold my game again before it comes to the point that it will be of no value , lost alot of money because its now second hand lol ,PS5 DISC VERSION - did not even get time to play because you cant ,

[tigersmad]

I for one enjoying the game, it’s gone back to we’re it was before last update that broke it , PS5 hardest

[Alex11081981]

I also like this game, I feel that it has potential that’s why I still believe in it, be careful I’m not saying that there are no problems to solve, there are even many, but I find that the game is interesting, I have rugby 22 and rugby challenge 4, and despite the defects of rugby 25, I prefer rugby 25, that’s to say the potential of this game…the licenses, the graphics, the animations are very good, the gameplay is good but it can still be largely improved and I hope that big ant is aware that their game has enormous potential and that they will not waste it…

[Rio10]

I am literally playing Rugby 08 on my laptop due to the fact that it feels like a rugby union game, there are actual offside and knock on rules/advantages, there are actual ball spills in tackles, which Rugby 25 just absolutely dont have. Having licenses and players faces means absolutely nothing if the game doesnt even play like a rugby union game, utterly disappointing, all hope is lost, all money lost

[Rugbygamer40]

Can I please ask you about Hardest Difficulty, how do you keep possession of the ball for multiple phases ? I just unsure what buttons I should press , sort of lose possession after 3 phases sometimes. Is it hold ball button a lot or a combination with binding ? I am enjoying hardest difficulty too, just not getting a lot of possession.

[MaD_Dragon_Rugby]

Interested what platform are you playing on @Rugbygamer40 ? Im not sure if different platforms effect the possesion or not.
But on PC for me it feels like you have to go out of your way for the AI to take possession off you.
Put up a video yesterday, and I kept New Zealand to 3% possession up to like 30 minutes into the match on hardest as Portugal. And that only changed later in the match because I wanted to test other things and handed possession back over.
The rucks are just about pure speed, as soon as you are tackled just button mash B (if you are using xbox controller) as fast as possible, and dont stop mashing until you pass the ball out. Litterally dont need to push any other button, the jackal and steal buttons seem to be less effective than pressing B, 15 times in a row. Dont let players get isolated. No point using the hold ball function, it just isnt needed.
And if you are struggling go get the ball off the AI, make 2 or 3 tackles in a row and dont commit any players in to the rucks. The AI will always commit 5, and you just wait for them to make the pass to a player thats isolated, then you spam B on that 1 tackle and normally take it. Has dropped from 100% success down to about 70%.
You can even let the AI have a like break, then tackle with your fullback. Your team always beat the AI to that ruck and get a turnover at the expense of losing a few meters.

Also believe team rating difference has a big impact, so if you play with like a 20 rating difference, it will probably be more difficult to regain possession, but thats mainly down to winning the ruck doesnt follow logic, its more of a speed vs player stats thing, and as the lower team you will be worse at every ruck, because theres no other system in place to counter it, like a momentum system, or fatigue from subbed players making them better than players that have been on the field for 75 mins.

[Rugbygamer40]

Hi Mad Dragon,

I am on PS5. Thanks very much for sharing that analysis of your experiences with the controls. I think it’s different on PS5 but I am going to follow your advice when I wake up tomorrow morning and play. Very interesting, I think I have lost some rucks when initially getting ball coming out but then I stop mashing B and lost it.
If it’s like this on all platforms it’s then too easy but I will give this a go tomorrow. Thanks very much for your help.

[MaD_Dragon_Rugby]

Yeah Playstation is the only platform ive got no experience testing it on. Ive got a friend playing it on PS5 too, and hes been telling me all sorts of things that I dont experience on PC or Xbox. Like in update 16 he was having 10-20 high tackles a game, whereas I havnt seen one in a good month or so.
So there may well be some difference specifically on that platform for some reason. Similar to Xbox having so many issues with the coloured screens over the matches, yet ive not seen it on PC. I think different platforms do have some differences but not sure why if they are all meant to be the same build. Maybe different limitations on different platforms and therefore the game is tweaked slightly to perform inside those limitations, so some things are better or worse on different platforms.

Interested to know if that fixes anything for you. If not, might have to test and find a totally different rucking system for PS5, to try and keep more possession.

[Pleddin]

This is a skill issue, I have no problem getting turnovers or holding onto the ball on PS5 against hardest. The game is not difficult still. MaD, I am glad to see you still here, after your video I was not sure if you could keep going..

[ATM-Gamer]

I can’t stay away.

Anyway so far so good with the patch on PS5 for AI v AI.

It’s certainly playing better than yesterday. Hopefully the game im playing/watching now doesn’t crash on me.

But so far so good

Edit: I am noticing too many interceptions and a few too many turnovers in the ruck. I’ll post more as I see it.

Only kicking I’m seeing is a box kick clear out by the defending team inside their own 22. Other than that nothing else thus far.

Game is currently 0-0 and feels a bit bogged down between the 10 metre lines.

Only set pieces have been a couple of line outs.

Just had a try scored as I typed the previous remark above.

Conversion kick seems ok.

There doesn’t seem to be any offloading other than in the tackle. There’s no passing along the line outside of a tackle. Attacking team still seem to have the scrum half pass from the ruck and then receiver barrels into the defending team.

Some of this does seem a little familiar and I feel I am repeating myself although it’s better than yesterday’s patch.

Keep going though as at some point you guys will nail it. I have faith.

Another quick observation. I’m playing Bulls v Ulster (still) from season mode on PS5.

I’ve noticed when the clock is in the red and Ulster have the ball in hand 7-0 up deep in their own 22, infact around the 5m line. Why are they trying to pass their way out of the situation rather than get the ball into touch?

They have had numerous opportunities to do so and yet they try to play the ball out of their 22 rather than get it out to touch?

So that’s a ? I know in previous patches these situations have resulted in the team getting the ball into touch asap.

Oh dear the game has just crashed on me again at a similar point in the second half. So as far as I’m concerned on PS5 we still have a lot of issues.

I do feel after yesterday the game has been rolled back one patch which if is the case then that is poor.

Overall the state of the game on PS5 is poor and I don’t know if other platforms are experiencing issues but atm it is unplayable.

Sorry guys, back to the drawing board for your devs and testers.

[Pleddin]

Was there an update today?

[ATM-Gamer]

Yes but on PS5 it feels like a roll back to the previous patch which was causing my game to crash during the 2nd half of my games every time.

Big Ant certainly have a problem sorting things out on PlayStation. Not sure about other platforms.

[Pleddin]

Ah here, only played online yesterday but was certainly more smooth, passing issues still persisted, but less turnovers and a bit more stable.

[Carol]

My son has this game on steam on his gaming laptop. Since the update previous to this week’s, it crashes at the same time in the second half every time. I’m not tech enough to figure out how to resolve this. I see it’s happening on ps5 too so I’m thinking it’s the updates. Has anyone found a work around?

[ATM-Gamer]

Are your games crashing in Play Now? Or Career Mode or Season Mode?