Quote: nickcat0 "But I don't think RU is about "excitement" ........... I liken rugby to cricket ........... RU is the Test match; a battle of tactics and strategy, it's sometimes slow and boring, but it can be enthralling ........... RL is the T20; stripped down to basics, leaving all the highlight reel stuff, the big hits, the tries, the end to end nature of the 6 tackle rule.'"
That is being very generous towards RU. The reason the world cup was boring was not because it is the nature of the game but because the teams chose to play it that way adopting a safety first mentality and the rules allow this to happen.
If you watch games like the Super 15 there seems to be an agreement not to adopt these kind of tactics to try and create a more exciting and expansive game. What RU has failed to do is adapt its rules to the increased fitness of players and tactical awareness of coaches (much learned from RL particularly defence) so whenever a crucial game occurs it is highly likely to be extremely boring to watch. It's got nothing to do with it being some sort of subtle chess like game but simply the result of trying to play a risk free game giving nothing away and the rules allow it.