Does anyone else find it quite hilarious the game of the tournament, despite the highly suspicious Japanese first up result, was a game featuring 12 penalty goals, 2 tries and 53 points (Wales v England)?

Nothing has changed with union.

They still need to copy our scoring system but can't bring themselves to do it. Checkmate.

Hurray another anti-union thread.

You can post these all day but it just comes across as envious at what is clearly a superior international product.

Hardly. It points out the fundamental problem rugby union has.

They are stuck in our timeline circa 1910 in terms of game development. It is very funny to watch them flopping around being so amateurish while we have done all these things they need to do aeons ago. Serious rugby union people understand this.

The froth and bubble of the union WC is nothing more than a demonstration of what money and hype does. Pure and simple.

The problem isn't the scoring system, it's inherent in the game. More and more points for tries have been attempted to try to encourage attacking play. Of course, it makes it even more worthwhile to concede pens to prevent tries. Same would apply to downgrading pens to 2. So use more yellow cards instead of pens? Well, they already chuck them about like confetti compared to league... Only thing they could and should do is reduce the value of a drop-goal.

Nah increase it to 4 points again like it used to be in union. Then exciting stats like 2/8 drop attempts Wales, 1/9 drop attempts England could be salivated over endlessly as well. It would add to the theatre.

Mitchell and Kenyon stuff current rugby union.

Come on mods, lock non-RL threads!

The op should have shortened the title.
"Union still dire"

It's easy, watch League instead.
There will be more folk in Manchester on Saturday watching "The Greatest Game" than watching the establishment façade
so leave the media to one of their favourites and we can all watch Leeds and Wigan ripping it up in the Grand Final

It shouldn't be locked as it is not a thread about rugby union but about a relationship between the two games in which rugby league so obviously leaves rugby union for dead. I have no interest in rugby union nor do I watch it. What I do find interesting is on any cursory viewing of what has been shoved down our throats, its many faults which are solely due to the history of the two games still remain so fundamentally evident.

This leads to the question - why don't they modify the rules?

The answer is, more often than not, because they don't want to be seen to be copying the superior evolved form of rugby - rugby league. As such this is fundamentally about rugby league and the influence it continues to assert on what many of you seem to regard as a superior sport.

As I say, I do already. But otherwise, well said.