My 2 cents
-TACKLE AREA
This area can/should be influenced by a number of factors
speed: of approaching tackler and of ball carrier
- there must also be the risk of failing to make the tackle if too fast and not accurate enough
- there must also be the risk of losing the ball in the tackle if the tackle is 90-100% accurate, however this must be determined by player form
strength: of ball carrier and tackler
proximity: of tackle initiation
- if tackle is initiated too early, tackle will most likely be unsuccessful[depending on the angle], whereas initiating tackle too late, should allow
the ball carrier to gain more ground
angle: of approaching tackler,
- head on tackle should stop ball carrier[speed and strength of ball carrier as well as tackler will determine how many meters gained/lossed]
- side tackle must be affected by tacklers defensive ability/strength/speed, and ball carrier's form/speed/strength/agility
these tackles should also hardly be successful and will require more than 1 tackler. [again the factors mentioned above will determined effectiveness]
- back/angled tackle should allow ball carrier to gain more ground, but will be influenced by his speed/strength/form/agility as well as the tackler's.
Allow tackler
as well as ball carrier to move during the tackle[with high resistance]
- obviously whoever commits more numbers to the area have a greater chance of winning this particular contest, but will also suck in players which
in turn limits attack, or makes the defensive team more vulnerable if the defensive line hasnt formed quickly enough yet
Allow more players to assist at the tackle
- more players should increase the effectiveness at the tackle, but at the same time will open up more holes in the defensive line if the ball is recycled
quickly enough.
MAUL
-Not only should mauls be allowed to be formed from lines and kickoffs /but from any aspect of play [this can be influenced by team and:
:tackle area
- if ball carrier gets enough momemtum and supporting players are close and join quick enough, a mini maul should be formed [balance/speed of ball carrier]
can influence this area for the attacking team
- speed at which maul is moving should also make it more vulnerable causing players to go to ground [should be controlled using either analog stick]
- however this aspect should only be allowed if executed to perfection
- team on defense must counter maul by submitting more players changing direction of applied resistance, causing attacking team to go off balance.
- mauls should still be a contest [not like in 08 where you know you going to score everytime once the maul gets going], this can be implemented
by getting numbers to the maul, players hitting into the mauls {using the previous high tackle button}, or defensive team removing numbers from the maul,
causing the attacking team to go too fast/losing their balance and going to ground.
- everytime the defensive team changes something as mentioned above[or the attacking team adds/removes players], the attacking team has to re-organise/re-balance
the maul[using that analogue stick]
-Of course there should also be the R3 option to collapse the maul with an 80% chance of conceding a penalty.
-For direction use left analogue stick, for balance/speed use right
RUCK {most important aspect: in real life and should be so in Rugby 2012}
The rucking engine should be determined by the following:
Momentum: if the ball carrier gets good momentum the ruck should be easier to setup IF, there are supporting players close by.
get numbers to the ruck by pressing X
more often than not the ruck is not contestable if the ruck is already formed with momentum. however once the area becomes static,
the counter rucking feature should come into play
if the ball carrier doesnt get enough momentum going forward or even gets pushed back, there should be a greater chance of the opposition
competing for the ball, or even winning by counter rucking.
First to the ball: Once a ball carrier is tackled and goes to ground, the player first to the ruck[defense or attack] should stand a greater
chance of winning the ball
A nice feature here could also be to use a button to let the tackler roll away or just lay there and slow down the ball which could
be penalised randomly[but must be affected by time before end of half/game and area of offence [like inside the 22m or 10m [yellow card]
Not all teams have a fetcher, so not all are going to try to steal the ball off the ground, some will just counter ruck, therefore
the option to steal the ball [legally] should be done using R3. Actually simulating the player attempting to have a go at stealing the
ball will be awesome.
In fact continously pressing R3 should move the player's arms or body to show that its an attempt at stealing the ball, where
holding in R3 should be seen as an attempt to slow the ball until the support arrives [and counter ruck]
What could be even better is if the tackled player could also hold onto the ball by holding in R3, so as to not allow the defending
player to win the ball.
An added bonus would be if the tackled player could place the ball away from him[closer to the scrumhalf] by pressing R3. Here will
be a risk of the ball being lost as there is less control now. [until the support arrives]
All this said, it must be stated that penalties COULD be awarded either way for [slowing the ball down or not releasing it], depending
on the referee.
Numbers: Id imagine it to be too difficult to program around the ruck technique as this counts very much, however numbers to the ruck will ensure a
better chance of winning the ball.
Numbers though should only influence one the ruck has become static and a counter ruck starts.
You should be allowed to add and remove players from the ruck area
General: With the new laws the ATTACKING team is favoured, as should be the case with Rugby 2012.
Scrumhalves should be quick to the ball, and if they're not the ruck must be influenced by numbers commited by either side.
Certain teams can also be favoured by the strength of the players forming the ruck.
usually when backline players form a ruck the ball must be played very quickly because once the heavies arrive they almost always lose the ball
An excellent feature here could also be to let players hit into the ruck {Bakkies Botha / Brad Thorn style} in order to gain momentum, or get rid of
the play trying to steal the ball.
CodeMasters released a rugby game some time ago, and the rucking engine was very similar, but the ball took too long long come out and every ruck
seemed to take too much effort [and pressing of the X button].
SCRUM
- should be based on timing, with crouch/touch/pause/engage [using a combination of X, O, A, D] - {on difficult mode }
a nice feature could also have users press a button for the props to bind [using a timing issue] OR
using the Right analogue stick to hold the bind {if up against a stronger scrum}
getting this wrong can result in a free kick/penalty
- there should be better simulation as to the movement of the scrum on the hit
- after the engage, defending team can also be penalised before the ball is put into the scrum, or the referee can tell the scrumhalf to put the ball
in.
- if both teams have strong scrums at some point they need to collapse
- if one is stronger than the other, the weaker team pulls up or collapses the scrum and concedes a penalty, but the stronger team cant just push
forward, they also have to balance the scrum in case its being wheeled or whatever tactics the Australians use 
PLAYS FROM THE SCRUM:
- No 8 pickup should only be allowed to run one way, i.e. on the opp side of the scrumhalf
- Scrumhalf running away from the scrum just before the No8 picks up and passes to him [in either direction]
however there must be a timing issue here [the scrumhalf cannot be i think 5/10 meters away from the scrum while the ball is still in]
Also the AI needs to be smart enough where the players automatically shift away if this play is triggered.
This shouldnt be a set play, but should always be an option.
PLAYER/TEAM FORM [tournament/online/random]
- Even the best players are not always at their best, Rugby 2012 needs to have this in the game
When playing in a tournament, form can fluctuate [within each players ability range], in fact areas of their play which they do not use should
deteriorate, while the aspects they use more commonly should improve.
e.g. if Dan Carter hasnt done grubbers in the past few games, when he does it again it mustnt be perfect, the same applies for passing, kicking
stepping, tackling etc. But it must get better the more they do it.
When having online play though each players form must be totally random[but within their range]. This will make the games more spontaneous, exciting
as anything can happen on the day.
PASSING
- Skip pass mustnt be done with holding in the pass button, as one can hardly pull this off if you want to play a fast paced game.
Rather use the R2 and L2 buttons whilst in open play for this [like Jonah Lomu Rugby]
- A smarter AI to trigger players to run onto the ball will also be nice [similar to the Fifa 11].
This feature can be implemented from a set piece [ruck /maul /lineout /scrum] and players doing a backline move as well.
For backline moves one should be able to use different triggers to tell a player to run short or wide
The defensive AI also needs to kinda follow the attacking players [so as to open up gaps in defense]
eg. to tell a player to run short, but skip pass and you put your second receiver away into a beautiful gap.
This is to be done dynamically with no set move being called.
- Trigger a switch and pass inside [no set play required]
- Obviously when players overrun, the ball gets passed forward and its a scrum / or the timing isnt correct and the player fumbles the ball.
- Allow a trigger to tell your backline to stand flat or deep, [trigger now for next play]?
Depending on their current position it will take n amount of time to the trigger you selected
GENERAL
- Allow forwards to run in the backline as well and backs to run closer to the contact area.
- Allow players to either commit to rucks to attempt to win the ball.
- Allow players to be sucked in.
- Allow the mismatch [backs running against forwards, forwards running against backs]
- Better simulation of taking a high ball [standing under it, or running onto it]
- Referees often get affected by the home team crowd often favouring the home team. Therefore referees should also have a range of how much they're
affected by the crowd, maybe based on experience or just totally random.
- Speed up the game [or allow different speed settings]
