Competition: Win official Rugby World Cup 2011 game

I have one copy of the PlayStation 3 version of the official Rugby World Cup 2011 game up for grabs, as well as a copy of the Xbox 360 version.
I gave my thoughts on the game in an earlier posting.
To be in with a chance of winning, answer the following question: What was the score in the Rugby World Cup final in 2007?
Email the answer to me at thebradpad@hotmail.com by the end of Wednesday, September 28. Please state which version you would like.
I'll let the winners know by the end of Friday, September 30. The editor's decision (i.e mine) will be final and I won't enter into any correspondence with entrants, unless of course it's amusing or entertaining.
I'm running the competition courtesy of 505 Games, HB Studios and Things With Wings. More information about the game is available from the official game site and its Facebook page. You can also find out more about the game on Twitter

One for the coffee table

When it comes to watching the Rugby World Cup on the box, it normally boils down to piling down the pub or putting your feet up in the living room.
If it's the latter option you prefer, then you'll be needing some appropriate coffee table reading matter. And Union - The Heart of Rugby is just the ticket.
Packed with iconic images capturing key moments in the history of the game, it had even my wife - not normally the greatest of rugby aficionados - thumbing through (although that may have had something to do with the physiques on show).
Union contains the thoughts of Martin Johnson, John Kirwan, Joel Stransky, Nick Farr-Jones and Philippe Sella, but it is the photography that steals the show.
Well timed for the Rugby World Cup, Union would also be worthy of consideration as a Christmas present for that rugby-loving relative.

Union - The Heart of Rugby is published by VSP.

A few musings...

League predictions, home victories and silencing Austin Healey. Read my column in this week's Bath Chronicle.

The Rugby World Cup - at your fingertips

Raised on a diet of Tetris and Super Mario Bros, there has since been something of a hiatus in my gaming career.
But the release of Rugby World Cup 2011, coupled with a neighbour's penchant for his PlayStation3, got me flexing my thumbs again.
Unlike football (of the association variety), tranferring rugby to the games console is no easy task. With football, you need to kick, tackle and head. With rugby, you need to pass, ruck, maul, scrummage, punt, chip, nudge a grubber, take a lineout... The task for programmers is not easy.
Getting your head around the controls of Rugby World Cup 2011 takes a game or two - particularly for the modern gaming novice like me - but before too long you get the knack, and the result is a heap of fun.
With 20 teams to choose from, you can take charge of everyone from the All Blacks to Namibia. My recommendation is to avoid selecting France - I had three hot-headed players sin-binned in one half for dangerous tackles. No stereotyping from the programmers, then!
Rather like the Wrigleys chewing gum I used to munch on while playing Tetris all those years ago, Rugby World Cup 2011 is better when you share it with some one. This game comes into its own when you go head-to-head - and with a couple of beers on ice, it's a belting way to continue the World Cup atmosphere when there's no game on the box.
In an effort to recreate the vibe of a live televised match, there is even commentary from Stuart Barnes, Miles Harrison et al. Their repertoire of remarks seemed a little repetitive during my first stab at the game, but that probably reflected my narrow abilities rather than limited programming.
An ideal sideorder to the Rugby World Cup itself, this game is a tasty accompaniment to the real-life action in New Zealand. I'm glad I came out of gaming retirement for this one.
Enjoy a taste of the game here.

Rugby World Cup 2011, by 505 Games and HB Studios, is available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 2011. For more information, visit www.rwc2011game.com and facebook.com\rwc2011game

First commentary on BBC

Thanks for the tweets, texts and emails following my first foray into live radio commentary. I loved covering Newcastle Falcons V Bath Rugby at Kingston Park on Saturday, and fingers crossed BBC Bristol will have me back soon!

Dave Attwood: "I'm not going to try and be the next Danny Grewcock"

Dave Attwood’s dog – recently back from an emergency dash to the vet – is giving him the runaround. “I’m sorry, I’ll have to call you back in ten minutes,” he apologises, an ever-so-slight hint of alarm in his West Country brogue.

Being given the runaround is not an experience to which the hulking 18st England lock is accustomed. Nor is the emotion of alarm one that you would readily associate with the man; it’s he who does the alarming.

But Attwood, who is starting out on a two-year deal at Bath, is more than a rugby tough nut. Beneath his massive frame is a thoughtful mind – and he has plenty to say.

Not that that should come as a surprise. As well as international honours, Attwood has an honours degree in philosophy and physics. And while we don’t have time to talk Descartes or Schrodinger’s Cat (although I suspect he’d take a question about either in his stride), Attwood covers plenty of ground – including his pubic area.

Firstly, I want to know whether he’s fit.

“The knee’s in good shape,” he says, referring to the problem that ended his hopes of a World Cup berth.

“But I’ve had something called osteitis pubis – an inflammation of the joint at the front of the pelvis – and that’s been the main issue.”

While this sounds like the sort of malady guaranteed to get schoolboys giggling in a lower-fifth biology class, it’s been far from a laughing matter for the second row.

Attwood picked up the condition while training with England during the Six Nations in February. It refused to go away and the problem came to a head in June.

“When England had my knee scanned they had a look at the pelvis as well and there was more of an issue there then initially thought,” he explains.

“The only solution is rest, and I’ve been limited in what I’ve been able to do.”

The condition has forced Attwood to train in fits and starts, with the inflammation flaring up whenever he overdoes things. But he remains cautiously optimistic of being fit enough to make his competitive debut for Bath in the season’s curtain-raiser at Newcastle on Saturday.

The 24-year-old moved to Bath in May following spells at West Country rivals Bristol and Gloucester. And with Bath stalwart Danny Grewcock having hung up his boots at the end of last season, much has been made of Attwood being the club’s next ‘enforcer’ – although he insists he will be his own man at The Rec.

“I’m a bit of a lump and I like to throw myself around a bit and people draw parallels,” he says. “The same sort of thing happened when I was called up to the England squad, with people comparing me to Martin Johnson. There is a character like that in most teams.

“But we’ve a new group of players at Bath and a slightly different game plan. There is a new way of thinking.

“I’m very much here to be Dave Attwood and the people running the club feel Dave Attwood will be someone who can help get the club going in the right direction.

“I don’t see it as me being the person who Danny was, because we are not the same player. It’s dangerous to start trying to live up to people’s expectations. I’m going to be who I am.”

There is a blend of defiance and clear-thinking in what Attwood says. There is an undertow of authority too – and he is frank that he has moved to Bath with the intention of establishing himself as one of the club’s leaders.

“As a reasonably young player just coming into the meat of his career, I want to feel like I am able to take the reins a bit,” he says. “I want to be somebody who other people in the squad look to.”

Away from the field, Attwood and his partner are setting about renovating a house on the west side of the city. The place, he admits, is currently a mess of knocked-through walls, but he has big plans. And while he is passionate about transforming his newly acquired bricks and mortar into something special, so too does he see the scope for a title-winning transformation at his new team.


“It’s an opportunity to make something happen,” he said.

“With Bath, there is something of the unknown and there is certainly a great expectancy about what this club can achieve. That’s very exciting for a young player.”

And then he’s off again, this time to a meeting at the club’s headquarters. Maybe, if his dog behaves, I’ll get on to Descartes the next time I speak to this renaissance man of English rugby.