Hi Everyone
Also ran through this issue in the past, brought it up here and the mates helped sharing various .exe but it never really helped.
Also tried different version of the games, iso download, rar download from different sources, nothing.
Did clean install with and without Antivirus on, meh.
Added the folder, the files, separetely and as a batch as exceptions to the antivirus and firewall, no no no.
I started thinking it was the video resolution/codec in the intro that was messing up, or the native resolution of the game, but it's really hard to understand what is actually the reason, it's so random, sometimes it would launch for 3 days in a row and then I would be struggling the week after.
A shame because it's a great game. As a compensation, I've installed PCSX2 and Rugby 08, PS2 version and it works like a charm. Impossible to update or add custom rosters but still nice to be able to play that game at times....