UKUMA TA’AI is starting to warm to his new life with the Huddersfield Giants.
But the 26-year-old Tongan international admits he’ll need the sunshine to help him produce his best form.
The former New Zealand Warrior had hoped he’d see some rays in the South of France during his team’s four-day visit to take on Catalan Dragons.
That didn’t prove the case either, with wind and rain welcoming Ta’ai and his teammates as soon as they arrived in Perpignan.
But with the Giants having secured their outstanding against-the-odds victory, Ta’ai felt it wasn’t all bad.
“I’d hoped the weather would have been a bit better than this by now,” he admitted.
“Everyone’s been promising me for a while that it would be getting warm by now, but I can’t say I’ve noticed!
“In fact, it was even cold in the South of France, which no-one said it would be.
“That was a bit of a blow, too.
“But I was still happy I came, because it was such a fantastic win for the boys and I really enjoyed spending some time with everyone.
“I didn’t manage to play many minutes myself, but I still thoroughly enjoyed being a part of what was a great win.
“This would have been a good win anyway, but to do it for a lot of the second half with 12 men made it even better. It was a brilliant effort.”
And with Ta’ai’s fitness improving all the time, he’s feeling confident about the future.
“I know it’s been a frustrating start for me and I’ve not played many games,” he added.
“But the coaching staff told me as soon as I got here what the plan would be and that I’d need to spend time working on my fitness.
“That’s what I’ve been doing and I’m happy with the way it’s gone.
“Obviously I’ve had to be patient, but that’s fine by me.
“I prefer playing when it’s hot and the pitches are firmer and drier, so I’m sure that’s going to be my time to show everyone what I can do.”
On the game, Catalan coach Laurent Frayssinous was proud of the efforts of his depleted team, who were minus six potential starters.
“It’s definitely disappointing when you lose a game but I am happy in a way because when you look at the two team sheets, we were without a lot of experienced players and we were close to beating the second team in the league table,” he said.
“We just need to keep learning lessons and to keep on working hard. Credit to Huddersfield. They played 30 minutes with 12 players and won the game. It was a great effort from them.
“Having said that, I am disappointed that we didn’t play with vision in the last 30 minutes.
“We were not disciplined enough with the ball.”
