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.
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.
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Hi Mad Dragon,
I am on PS5. Thanks very much for sharing that analysis of your experiences with the controls. I think itās 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 itās like this on all platforms itās then too easy but I will give this a go tomorrow. Thanks very much for your help.
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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.
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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..
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Because it is a rugby league game dressing up as rugby union for Halloweenā¦ā¦,
For a year since EA it has felt like a league game and with the bad pass mechanics that I cannot believe donāt allow for quick and accurate passing down the line.
It shouldnāt be so labour intensive to pass down the line and so many balloon/lob passesā¦.
Come on guysā¦.. you are close to this game being so bad, you wonāt have a player base for a follow up
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I canāt stay away.
Anyway so far so good with the patch on PS5 for AI v AI.
Itās certainly playing better than yesterday. Hopefully the game im playing/watching now doesnāt crash on me.
But so far so good 
Edit: I am noticing too many interceptions and a few too many turnovers in the ruck. Iāll post more as I see it.
Only kicking Iām 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 doesnāt seem to be any offloading other than in the tackle. Thereās 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 itās better than yesterdayās patch.
Keep going though as at some point you guys will nail it. I have faith.
Another quick observation. Iām playing Bulls v Ulster (still) from season mode on PS5.
Iāve 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 thatās 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 Iām 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 donāt know if other platforms are experiencing issues but atm it is unplayable.
Sorry guys, back to the drawing board for your devs and testers.
Was there an update today?
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.
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Ah here, only played online yesterday but was certainly more smooth, passing issues still persisted, but less turnovers and a bit more stable.
My son has this game on steam on his gaming laptop. Since the update previous to this weekās, it crashes at the same time in the second half every time. Iām not tech enough to figure out how to resolve this. I see itās happening on ps5 too so Iām thinking itās the updates. Has anyone found a work around?
Are your games crashing in Play Now? Or Career Mode or Season Mode?
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Are there other stuffs that you brought up during this meeting ? 
You think me of all people would be happy with 1 thing. Oh no no no, I had lots to bring up.
Always end it with gripsocks.
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I take it as lot of changes planned and expected for R25, thanks for confirming mate !
That confirmed, when Massive Patch ?
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Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
The Chuckle Brothers sum up Rugby 25.
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Letās hope passing was a big discussion in this meeting then as itās absolutely destroying this gameplay with the one dimesnilol ai. Doesnāt replicate union in the slightest, all focus needs to be put on to get the ai passing before contact and getting the backs and wingers involved. Itās a absolute basic of rugby. ā¦
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Hey Mad Dragon,
Your advice worked with using the Bind button for rucks on hardest difficulty PS5. Took me a few mins playing the match to actually get myself doing it correctly.
It did improve my possession to get 40% instead of 20% or less previously.
I had a lot more opportunities to score Trys. So I did it playing as Stormers vs Lions in URC. I won 56-14. Lions though are a weaker team so I will try next time for a more stronger Ai opponent.
As for the Ai only committing 1 to the ruck or no one if you donāt press Bind, on PS5 it appears this does not happen. The Ai will commit players quickly before I even press Bind sometimes.
Thanks very much for your help. Your videos have been good to also watch seeing your playing experiences and thoughts on the patches. It definitely helps keep the community aware of different issues.
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Please listen to this, Big Ant. Itās the most significant shortcoming of the game in its current state.
Are the upcoming updates mainly based on community feedback, or are there also plans to introduce new gameplay features and mechanics? I think many of us would feel more reassured knowing that additional content is in the pipeline beyond just fixes based on our feedback.