Reading the Economist - as one does - one of our readers, Cab, found a passage in an article about European football, but which applies well to our rugby situation:

“Politicians like the notion of equality. Sportsmen should beware it. Politics is about majorities, averages, and keeping lots of people happy. Sport is about individuals, excellence and winning and losing. The two don’t go well together; so it is, by and large, better for sport if politicians resist the temptation to interfere with it.”