The workaround didn't work for me either; however, I was able to edit a template to match my site. I would not call them "flaws" as much as it is hard to make something as complex as a forum system integrate perfectly into Joomla! Yes, PHPBB is a better all around forum, but it is alot harder to bring Joomla user info (user and password) together with PHPBB. It is simply a matter of how much work you want to do or want your users to do. You COULD set PHPBB wide open but then everyone would be guests. If you want some help customizing a template I could help you(I'm not gonna do it for you, that would defeat the purpose).
My e-mail is
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drop me note if you wish.