Electronic Arts release details of some improvements made to their Union franchise…

The quality of Rugby games has always been well below par compared to their football counterparts, but EA have announced that the next instalment of their Rugby 20xx series will be the most realistic yet. Previous attempts to bring the oval game to consoles have proved to be largely hit-and-miss, but with features including fake passes with the right analogue stick, and on-the-fly play-calling, Rugby 2005 may be able to flow a lot better and more realistically.

The game will include the major tournaments, teams, and players and the game will also benefit from an overhauled graphics engine that includes realistic player movements thanks to improved motion capturing, and “individually differentiated players.”

Speaking about the forthcoming title, Andrew Wilson, Producer of Rugby 2005, said, "EA SPORTS is committed to making the most complete and authentic rugby game possible…By leveraging our sports technology and experience to create EA SPORTS Rugby 2005, we feel we can grow a successful interactive franchise for one of the fastest growing sports in the world."

The game is currently in development at EA Canada, where the FIFA franchise has been dramatically improved over the past year, so Rugby 2005 may break the mould and prove to be a successful interpretation of the Union game.

We’ll have more on Rugby 2005 shortly…