Joining McCaw on the front packs of EA SPORTS Rugby 08 in selected territories around the world are 11 additional athletes who also demonstrate athletic excellence, undying determination and masterful skill for their national teams. Joining McCaw on the cover of EA SPORTS Rugby 08 in the United Kingdom is England’s Mark Cueto, and in France is Frenchman Yannick Nyanga. Bryan Haban, Schalk Burger and Andre Pretorius will be showcased on the cover in South Africa, brothers Mauro and Mirko Bergamasco in Italy and Australia’s Stirling Mortlock will be the featured athlete in Australia and Asia.

This is the season you take complete control of managing your favourite squad as EA SPORTS Rugby 08 enables you to emulate the style of your favorite team on offense and now on defense. Using new, authentic defensive formations, adjust your defense on-the-fly to keep momentum on your side or counter your opponent’s attacking style by changing your defensive strategy based on score, field position and more.

This year EA SPORTS Rugby 08 introduces a layered pick-up-and-play control system for set pieces and drop kicks. Now you take full command over every scrum and maul with enhanced push and rotation controls. Make lineout throw-ins look easy with a simplified control scheme for the novice player and advanced mechanics for the pro. Master the new kicking meter to score those key penalties and conversions, while new truck and zoom camera angles zero in on all the breakdown and set piece action during the game’s biggest moments.

In addition to enabling gamers to participate in the 2007 Rugby World Cup by taking control of one of 20 national teams, the game features a new, compelling mode of play named World Cup Challenge. Testing even the most hardcore rugby fan, it re-creates the biggest moments in World Cup history and challenges you to re-write the results with today’s teams to unlock exclusive World Cup highlight videos.