from what locksley has said... it seems like there is not too big an issue with the passing and that the delay might still see it released in March;
... perhaps alot of the ****ly issue is down to the user having to "learn" how to play the game i.e. if you don't use the set-plays from ruck/scrum situations, the pass from the scrum half goes a-skew and things start to look and feel problematic, whereas if a set-play is selected, the receiving players get into position and the pass is received correctly and play develops freely
... maybe they realised that this needs to be dumbed down a bit/more control given to the user without having to call a set-play every time and this is what they'll work on causing the delay?
... OR, I could be completely wrong and the passing in the game is just shite! but it seems from locksley words and video's that the gameplay is pretty decent (and I think umosay said that the demo is from code in September) - although it could also be that they have complicated the passing system since then and need to revert back to the code used for the demo!
... so many different possibilities... so few answers!