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Down here in Bath we're at the centre of the rugby world. Bath's first's are currently top of the league and can't seem to lose their winning streak. The world championships however are a different matter. The All Blacks seem to have it completely wrapped up, the huge Antipodeans strike terror into every fullback's heart. The England team doesn't usually get a look in when those black sweaters are on the pitch (but maybe this time round we'll do better). So now, thanks to Audiogenic, it's your chance to prove that the Brits aren't that bad (after all the game originated in this fair country), and to thrash the world's best teams at one of the toughest sports in existence.

World Class Rugby is simply a rugby simulator with a teensy weensy bit of management thrown in. Well, it's not really management, it's more like playing the team captain. You can swap your player's positions around and that's about it. There's a pile of options to go through before you get to playing a game of rugby, which unfortunately has to be loaded separately.

Now this isn't too bad if you're playing on disk, but it's most definitely a multi-load nightmare on tape. After every game in the league, you'll have to load the menu section again. And then, after being told the result (that you know anyway 'cos you've just played!), you have to reload the game section to play the next match. The programmers, Denton Designs, are currently working on Batman Returns for Konami. And from what we've seen so far of the sprite design on that, I was expecting some stonking sprites on WCR.

Unfortunately, that isn't the case - your players are a little too teensy to really see what's happening, but I suppose, as long as you can tell if you're holding the ball or not, that doesn't really matter that much. You know who you're controlling by the ever-so-subtle arrow above his head - much better than a blurry change of shirt colour which only helps to confuse you more (which you'll find in many a soccer game).

Of course, in the heat of battle it's still completely possible to lose track of your little men, especially when you're under pressure. A lot of pressure.

If you find yourself in a scrum or a line out then there are a number of specific plays you can implement. All of which are totally automatic until the set piece is finished, or you interrupt play by hitting the Fire button. At this point you take control of the player holding the ball.

Choosing a certain play is a simple case of pointing the joystick towards the option required and hitting Fire. Even a Rugby novice like Lisa got the hang of that bit.

As in most sports games, the two-player mode is twice as much fun as playing on your own. There's something wonderful about getting together with your big sister and thrashing the pants off her 'cos you've actually bothered to read the manual. Incidentally, I do recommend that you read the manual before even attempting to play, especially if you're not a rugby freak (they do actually recommend that you read up further on the rules if you've never played rugby before - but it's not that tough to get the hang of). Even if you know all that there is to know about Rugby, the control system isn't completely straight forward so read up on that bit.

At this point I was going to give you the viewpoint of a rugger expert, but I couldn't find one who could write his own name.

But for the waiting around between games, World Class Rugby might have scored quite highly. Awful multiloads like this just shout of programming laziness. If the programmers can't be bothered with it all then neither can I.

WCR really could have been great with a little more effort on Denton's part. It's all such a pity, as the world isn't exactly over-run with good rugby sims.

For those of you who skived off PE or if you're just too old to remember, here's a quick run down of the basics of the great English sport of rugby.

The game is played by a total of 30 big, beefy, strong-willed, wide-necked men (that's exactly 15 on each side).

The aim of the game of rugby is to run with, kick or pass an oddly-shaped ball between players in order to get the ball over your opponent's back line. This is called a try, (maybe because you're trying to win), you'll score four points for scoring a try.

After a try, you must attempt a conversion (to convert your four points into six points) Your player starts on the quarter line and tries - no, I can't say tries, that'll only confuse things more - attempts to kick the ball between the goal posts above the horizontal bar.

The most enjoyable bit in any game of rugby is getting squashed in the midst of a scrum. Eight players from each team take part in the scrum. The front row consists of a Loose Head Prop, a Hooker and a Tight Head Prop. The second row is a Loose Head Lock, and a Tight Head Lock. While the back row is two Flankers and a number eight. The rest of the team are a Scrum Half, a Fly Half (sometimes called an outside), an Inside Centre, two Wingers, a full Back and a partridge in a pear tree.

A standard game will last eighty minutes with a five minute break after the first half. In which the players don't go back to the dressing rooms, they just stand around in the mud sucking chunks of orange. After the whistle blows, all the players strip off and jump in the bath together (It's traditional apparently, they don't enjoy it at all, matey!).

1. One heck of a multi-load. Don't even consider playing it off tape! 2. Sticks to the rules like Pirrelli tyres stick to the road. 3. Great two-player gameplay.