Editor,

I can't recall the last time that we took to the streets after beating our cousins in the Cook Islands in any sport.   And while I don't want to disparage the sporting prowess of the Cook Islands in anyway, they have never ever been in the same league as Samoa, Fiji and Tonga when it comes to the 15 and 13 man game.   That was until last this week.  

You only have to look at the side that nearly brought an end to the star-studded Mate Ma'a Tonga campaign to appreciate how well these rookies from the Cooks outperformed our under-cooked and disappointing world-class 13.  

The street celebration in Nuku'alofa which followed a lack-lustre performance by a team which on paper promised so much but delivered so little is difficult to comprehend. Are we so in need to be cheered up that we will bring Taufa'ahau Rd to a standstill on a performance which would have been considered a sham 10 or 15 years ago?

Have our standards and expectations dropped so low that we can no longer tell the difference between victor and vanquished?

Sefita Hao'uli

Auckland

New Zealand