Couple of quick points guys:
We prototyped a number of mechanics for the breakdown. We found that a lot of focus on the intricacies of the breakdown would devolve into a series of minigames which slowed the flow of the game and didn't support our goal of creating fast flowing rugby.
With this mechanic you do not add or remove players from the ruck. This is a deliberate choice that has come about through prototyping, testing and balancing.
It may seem a simple mechanic but there is an element of risk vs. reward to it. There is also an additional element of tactical decision making as you can change your ruck support strategy - add forwards with their strong rucking abilities to the breakdown which is a risk that they're late to arrive if you tend to spin the ball out wide, select the Nearest Man option which means that team mates will join the ball to secure possession even if they're a winger with lower rucking abilities, or you can leave it at the default balanced option.
Scrums and lineouts have mechanics that are largely similar to our previous games. Although we have addressed the "twich" - it no longer happens. Again, we've prioritized the work based on feedback from you guys. New mechanic for restarts were not top of the list. If this new ruck mechanic proves to be successful, there are ideas on how to evolve it and build from it in other areas of gameplay - like scrums. Ultimately though, a mechanic that looks good on paper, doesn't always translate to a mechanic that is fun in practice and will take time to prototype and playtest. We're pleased that what we've got in game a.) preserves the flow of the game b.) makes the breakdown contestable c.) is accessible and fun.
One thing that I'd like to clarify is that bringing familiar feel to the gameplay has been a deliberate choice on our part - bringing the heritage of our rugby gameplay to this generation of consoles, and on a new rendering and animation engine, however, has not been straightforward and was a significant challenge for the team. The feedback from people who have played the game to date has been that it does feel familiar, but that the additional options, difficulty levels and mechanics have meant that there are new challenges in store for fans of our previous games - which means we've realized our principal design goal for this game.
