Custom Competitions still have a long way to go.
32+ teams and Pool Stage option need to be possible in order to replicate the upcoming World Cup and the Champion/Challenge Cup format.
I think there also needs to be some custom Club Competition for the rest of the Clubs who are not participating in Champions cup. Competitions like MLR and Super Rugby need it, it’ll add more value to them for a career mode.
Was this even an update? I don’t see much improvements in AI at all. Still the exact same moves and easy to read.
When I saw the updates say “Difficulty changes” I was hopeful but after playing it now…not much changed.
Hardest difficulty still easy and without any challenge.
Stamina still draining very quickly and like I said before, 10-15 meters then BAM out of stamina (stamina regains faster when stationary which is cool)
AI Defense feels a bit more challenging which is great. But still, I am scoring 30+ points against them and they end up having 0 on the scoreboard because of no proper attack.
See below match of me playing as Portugal, against Springboks, as the away team on the hardest difficulty. Firstly, home team needs to have some type of additional momentum or advantage, then I was able to Scrum the living daylights out of the springboks. This should also not happen. They are known for their good scrums.
Please just make the game more difficult.
Can I make a request that patch notes are updated somewhere else instead of, or as well as, X more regularly?
Twitter is an absolute cesspit now and I’ve found myself having to log back on just to see what’s going on. It’s horrendous! Bluesky would be amazing if poss
They’re posted here as well (with additional details):
Any update on when the women’s 6 nations teams will be added? I recall from a post a while ago this was supposed to be for the start of the tournament.
It’s pretty ridiculous that they haven’t added the women’s teams yet, especially as you’ve been able to create a custom women’s team for weeks.
I found that you can add custom women players to custom men’s teams, but when you play with them, their bodies disappear and you only see their heads and limbs.
I think someone said it here before, and if anyone has any dev experience feel free to correct me, but these updates are so small and make such small changes, they must spend no time on them, hence why we still dont have the womens teams.
Not a dev either but there’s no way they’re more than number tweaking in the background to paper over cracks, way too quick a turnaround for substantial changes - especially considering how many delays happened before launch
Hopefully there’s big changes being worked on in the background but I can’t say I’m hopeful
Yeah like if we were dealing with honest brokers here, I think you might conclude their is a significant patch being worked on in the background, but every week we get crumbs with no communication so it is hard to have any hope for that.
I think it’s great that niche Polish, Bangladeshi, and Brazilian teams are represented in the game, but it would be quite poor if at least the 6 nations teams aren’t added whilst the tournament is going on, especially as it’s building up towards the World Cup.
I don’t know about that. I’m all for quality over quantity.
There hasn’t really been much effort put into those leagues as well which is a bit of a punch in the face for those leagues too.
Imagine being told you’re in a game to see you look nothing like yourself. Not even being the correct ethnicity.
Since every update doesn’t deliver what you expect:
I played “Rugby Challenge 4” again after a long time. This is exactly what a rugby game should be like. There’s passing, kicking, the rucks feel good. There are penalties and penalty kicks, etc.
It’s so much fun, I don’t need Rugby 25…
The transfer system needs to be overhauled. There’s no transfer window in rugby but there seems to be one in this game. Would be nice to have the option to sign players whenever and negotiate with clubs to sign them or loans.
The search filter is also very limited and resets every time you do anything with a player. 
Also there are never any offers for players transfer listed. It just seems to be a case of waiting for contracts to expire and that can sometimes be years in game. I should be able to release players or swap as well.
I don’t think anyone who plays this game would object to the developers borrowing how other sports games transfer and signing systems work.
Oh and add academies
I have basically decided to create my own versions of some of the developer made players in many teams that are either not accurate at all or default template versions. Simply because if I start a career or competition I want to see accurate players running around.
Some developer made players are simply default “Template” appearances you get when you go to create a player mode and select a template,
I have no idea when the players will be updated. I understand there is a backlog for face scan uploads but I not sure all players are face scanned so I don’t know if they will have edited updated realistic appearances in the future.
I am sharing my players created in Fan Hub. Only issue is that you can’t remove the developer made players so you get a double up in the actual team.
(Lots of these “Template” players across teams in MLR )
My Creations to try to bring in some realistic appearances
Is anyone seeing the wind having much impact on kicking, either for touch or goal kicking? Would be good to see this cranked up a bit
Regarding the new update on series x
Scrums are more difficult to win off the opponents feed, this is good.
AI defence is better
ADVERTISING IN STADIUMS. Is this happening? Its been ignored each time it has been posted in the forum.
I now get rouge passes flying backwards 30-40m to a non existent reciever off the ruck. This also happens to the AI.
I put down my controller and the AI couldnt score. They dont offload or pass into space at all when there are obvious overlaps. They cannot advance and actually go backwards on attack without player input.
Desperately need AI to provide a challenge to stop people switching off. Looking forward to Thursdays update
I literally had this same experience the other day. I’m absolutely loving Rugby Challenge 4. It plays like an actual game of Rugby Union. I have had some really fun matches on it and theres lots of detailed, up to date teams you can get on the Fanhub. Rugby 25 has a long way to go before it’s playable.
Come on guys, this game is unplayable at the moment. If you play offline you dont even need to defend. I can put down controller and still push opposition back. I am useless at all games and can never win on the hardest level of any game. On this game i win by 40+ in a 5 minute game on hardest level every time. Please just sort the AI . Apologies for the negativity but i just want to enjoy this game.
Good point, I noticed this myself just yesterday. Kicked off with a top-speed crosswind and the ball went straight down the middle.
Hey fellas,
This patch felt like a few steps forwards then a few steps backwards at the same time.
Really hoping these gameplay issues are going to be addressed but becoming a bit concerning that the patches still don’t seem to be addressing anything major mentioned by players which are really holding back the game from making any major improvements.
There are a few bugs in the game at the moment which are making it a bit unplayable.
Positives
Areas for improvement
Bugs:
-The opposition has a quick throw in after you’ve kicked the ball into touch. As soon as you tackle the ball carrier the game freezes. Clock keeps running but you can’t do anything to continue play or get the ball. All the players just stand there. Which results in you having to quit the game.
-Kicked the ball out. Opposition player stands there with the ball, doesn’t opt for a quick lineout and the game doesn’t transition into the cutscene leading into the lineout. Just freezes similar to the other bug with the clock continuing to click, resulting in you having to quit the game.
Attack:
The biggest issue with gameplay is still the lack of depth on Attack. The support lines/angles, player movement and player positioning. It’s so unstructured, lacks strategy and currently meaningless positioning. Looks like a free for all out there with no intent or plan.
Support lines have improved a lot but still very inconsistent. Finding that when the first receiver gets the ball from the half back, the support line are too deep which leaves the ball carrier isolated and destroys your opportunity to get any momentum on attack. Sometimes the support runners are running weird angles, either back towards the ruck, or flat footed and not supporting the ball carrier at all. Finding if the first receiver runs, the two outside players next to him don’t keep up with him and it’s only the wing which creates a weird running line where two players get crammed in the middle and are left out of the attack, or if you pass the ball, it goes straight to those players standing deep rather then the wing who is keeping up with the ball carrier which kills any attacking momentum or flow.
Need to implement blocker and sliders, where you have the ball carrier, two players outside him with the outside player cutting on the inside angle to take the short ball off the ball carrier, and the middle player drifting/ sliding behind the player running the short ball line to give the ball carrier the option to pass out the back and feed outsides. That way the ball carrier has two options of support players running different lines/angles. This really needs to be added into the game to add some life to the attack.
Tactics - players aren’t positioning themselves correctly to the tactic you’ve selected. Players are still standing in the same position when I try change tactic. For example 1-3-3-1, forward pods don’t position themselves correctly and the 10/ playmaker Is standing too deep. 10 needs to be positioned behind outside the forward ball carriers outside shoulder so they can receive that tip pass out the back then have the option to either hit a gap or feed the outsides or next forward pod outside 10. That is the whole plan with that move. Suck in defenders with the forward pod then create that space out the back for the playmaker and outsides.
You need to have the ability to control where you have your forward pods running, e.g off 9, 10 or 12. Otherwise the default needs to be a correct backline formation 10,12,13 with your wingers on either side with the 15 joining the line if in the opposition half. 10 is hitting too many rucks, standing blind or out the back out of play. Get them involved in the attack. Make it realistic. Need the 10 steering the ship.
Hope you guys make this a priority as would add so much more depth, realism, strategy and enjoyment to your game!
Rucks- Players a binding too slow which kills any opportunity to get quick ball and attack. Half your backline keeps getting sucked in to the rucks to which again ties in with player positioning. A good solution would be quick bind which is whoever is closest to the ruck or strong bind which will suck in just forwards to the ruck and will increase your chances of securing the ruck and winning the ball.
General Kicking - Need to bring in bombs/up and unders with descent height and distance to allow you to put pressure on the opponent, put pressure on with your chase line and try force an error or win back possession with your chasers competing in the air, giving the team a better position to attack up the field. The Aerial battle is a big part of rugby so would be cool to see it implemented.
Box kicks - Need to allow for a bigger distance when box kicking
Goal Kicking - Enjoying how a lot of players have their own kicking style. Find that whenever I aim away from the post it goes over and when I aim at it I miss. Need to sort this mechanic out as makes no sense.
Pocket kicker - Need to make sure the 10 is not running on to the ball when kicking otherwise it defeats the purpose of putting them in the pocket.
AI decision making - Still putting 30-40 points on AI even at the hardest difficulty. Should implement sliders as some other players have mentioned.
Commentary - Still seeing commentary calls not matching with what’s happening on the field. E.g. Penalty kick for touch, commentator saying kicker has missed touch when the ball has gone out.
Player face scans - Will be awesome to see the South African teams and the European clubs have updated player face scans.
Teams lineups - Noticed a lot of the European club teams aren’t starting their best players. Assuming because of international duty with the six nations but would be good to get this sorted.
Please start addressing a lot of these important gameplay issues asap. Really stopping any major improvement of the game until these areas are addressed.
Amazing having an awesome selection of licences, player scans etc but the game play is the foundation of the game and of most importance. We just want a real authentic simulation of rugby. Hopefully we have this stuff addressed soon but starting to lose a bit of faith as these issues are obvious as everyone is mentioning them but are still not being acknowledged.
Cheers for your hard work!
