London Irish coach Toby Booth saluted Mike Catt's "fantastic appetite for the game" after the Exiles crushed Heineken Cup opponents Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade.
Catt was a dominant figure in the 45-17 success, scoring one try and proving a thorn in the Dragons' side throughout.
At 36, he still possesses the ability to dominate games at the highest level, and he can now reflect on a superb start to the European campaign that has seen Irish collect a maximum 10 points from victories over the Dragons and Italian team Treviso.
Booth said: "Mike has got a fantastic appetite for the game. He is expanding his coaching role with us, but I am sure as long as his body allows him to, Mike would want to play first and coach second.
"Having a midfield general like him around to take the pressure off is so important. He brings fantastic experience and leadership qualities that are vital in pressurised environments.
"We believe that attack is our best form of defence, and you won't get conservatism with someone like Mike Catt."
Irish had the game wrapped up inside 20 minutes, leading 24-0 after capitalising on poor Dragons defence, and they ended with six tries as Catt, wing Tomas De Vedia (2), centre Delon Armitage (2) and lock Nick Kennedy all crossed.
Full back Peter Hewat converted all six touchdowns and slotted a penalty, leaving the Dragons to claim consolation tries from lock Michael Owen and hooker Steve Jones as scant crumbs of comfort.
Booth added: "We set out to keep our momentum going after beating Treviso last week, but a bonus point win here was probably beyond our expectations.
"Our defence has to take a lot of credit for forcing turnovers, and we capitalised on that.
"Obviously, we are delighted to have collected two bonus point victories in this group, but there is still a lot to do.
"Our aim is to reach the quarter-finals, it is one of our internal goals, and it is something that we haven't achieved before."
While Irish celebrated their first away win in their Heineken Cup history, the Dragons could only reflect on a damaging afternoon that now gives them little chance of progressing from Pool One.
Dragons coach Paul Turner said: "We made a promising start, but then we went to sleep and the game went away from us. I am hugely disappointed.
"In the cold light of day, Irish hit their straps for 20 minutes in the first half and blew us away, but that is European competition for you.
"We were overpowered, and their finishing was far better than ours. We came up short today.
"I am disappointed for our supporters, but we will have to go away, lick our wounds and come back stronger for the experience."
More news from SportingLife.com
