The Game

8 players a-side!

The first real simulation of the world famous game - it's all there... conversions, touch-backs, line-outs, drop-kicks, real tackling, scrum-downs, throw-ins and all the rest...

An amazing mixture of strategy and fast action - definitely the best Rugby game, absolutely brilliant! - David Darling.

This is it - the truly definitive Rugby game. It's got all you would expect, and more. Here are just some of the amazingly realistic features...

• Up to EIGHT players using the league feature
• All-action scrum-down sequences
• Conversions and drop-kicks
• 8 present team player policies, and you can make your own!
• Watch your team members line out behind you, waiting to recieve the pass, while others mark the opposition...
• Real throw-ins
• Choose your own team name

With its many remarkable facets, this will soon be your favourite game - play it and see!

Game Controls

Keyboard/Joystick control.
Kempston/Sinclair compatible.

During a game, pressing ENTER will pause the action. Pressing it again will continue. While in pause mode, press Q to quit the game. 1 and 2 will let you change playing policies. (See For Advanced Players)

Using The Menu

Move the highlight bar up and down using the cursor keys. Press ENTER to choose the option under the highlight bar.

Starting The Game

With the digital display on the stadium roof to see who is playing the first match. The team on the left of the scoreboard is controlled by player 1, and the team on the right by player 2.

Playing The Game

During a game, you control one of the players on your team. This player is highlighted with a circle overhead so that you can see him easily. The member of your team holding the ball is controlled by you, or, if your team doesn't have possession of the ball, pressing FIRE will change control over to the member of your tem nearest to the ball. This means you have control of all of your players, and stay on top of the action.

While you control the active player, all your other team members will be using their artificial intelligence and folliwing the chosen team playing policy.

On The Field...

If you're not using a joystick, then use the keys thet correspond the joystick movements mentioned below...

Passing
Hold the joystick in the direction of the pass and press FIRE - you cannot pass forward.

Kicking
Hold the joystick in the direction of play and push FIRE. The 'KICK POWER' indicator will appear and start growing. Release the button when you have the power that you want, and the direction bar will start. Push FIRE again to kick.

Scrummage
This happens if you are tackled and don't throw the ball back. The scrummage indicator will appear then waggle left and right quickly to win the scrum and gain possession.

Throw-In
Moving left or right selects the controlled player. Up/down will reposition the player. The ball holder will throw the ball when FIRE is pushed.

Scoring A Try
Press FIRE when you are over your opponents try line with the ball.

Conversion
Use left/right to position the arrow. Press hold FIRE when the arrow points towards the goal. The 'POWER BAR' starts growing. Release FIRE to make the conversion when the power bar has sufficiently grown.

The League

If you start a league, the computer will want to know how many teams are involved. It assumes there are 8 unless you tell it otherwise. Decide amongst yourselves which team you want to be. If you want to change your team names, go to the OPTIONS selection, then choose TEAM NAMES. Move the highlight bar over the current name of your team and hit FIRE. You can then type the name of your favourite team (followed by ENTER).

When playing in a league, be careful to see that the right people play the right matches by watching the scoreboard the beginning of the game.

For Advanced Players: Team-Playing Policies

Your team playing policy governs how the rest of your team play - remember you only control one man at a time! You can change your strategy at any point during the game by pressing ENTER (to pause the action) and then pressing 1 (for player 1) to 2 (for player 2). Press the ENTER key to step through the preset policies, and move the highlight bar to LEAVE MENU to select the policy that's on the screen.

You can also make your own policies (before starting a game) by selecing the POLICIES option in the OPTIONS menu. You can then select which player you want to move with your joystick/control keys. Hold down FIRE to drag the player to where you want him in your new policy.

There are 8 players on each team, 3 are the pack and 5 backs or line members. The pack always follows the ball. The line members follow the policy (either for attacking or defending).

When defending, a player can either be in a fixed ZONE on the pitch or he can 'MARK' his opposite number in the attacking team. When attacking, the ZONE determines where the players run in relation to the pitch. The ball FOLLOWERS move in relation to the ball and you can set their relative positions. (The line in the centre represents the ball position.)

The best way to learn about policies is to experiment with them... try a few different ones and see what happens.

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Game Credits

Coding: Ian Dunlop
Graphics: Neil Adamson
Music/FX: David Whittaker
Project Director: Richard Darling/Tim Miller
Production: Mike Clark/Stew Regan
Cover Illustration: Nigel Fletcher