It was "30-something" day at Kumagaya Sports and Culture Park on Sunday as Panasonic Wild Knights topped Coca-Cola Red Sparks 45-12 in the Japan Rugby Top League.
The pregame talk had been about the up-and-coming and future Brave Blossoms on display such as Kenki Fukuoka, Yoshikazu Fujita, Takuya Yamasawa and Timothy Lafaele.
But it was some of the more experienced players who laid the foundations for the win with four of Panasonic's seven tries scored by players in their fourth decade and 34-year-old Ryu Koliniasi Holani walking away with the man-of-the-match award.
Not that the youngsters disappointed, with Yamasawa adding five conversions and putting in one scintillating break, and Lafaele scoring a try and conversion and creating another five-pointer for Cola.
"Koli drives the standards. He just keeps turning up, is such a valuable player and gives a lot of comfort to those around him," said Panasonic coach Robbie Deans.
Though the New Zealander was also quick to praise the less-experienced members of a squad decimated by injury, saying, "The younger blokes are filling the spaces and we are starting to combine and function as one."
The victory sees the Wild Knights in fourth spot in the standings on 24 points.
Kobe Kobelco Steelers are third with 28 points — six behind Yamaha Jubilo and four back of Suntory Sungoliath — thanks to a 44-25 win over Canon Eagles in which Fraser Anderson grabbed a hat-trick of tries.
Meanwhile, NTT Communications Shining Arcs picked up their fifth win of the season by beating Toyota Verblitz 19-13 to end Round 7 in fifth place on 21 points.
Thirty-three-year-old wing Tomoki Kitagawa set the stage for the afternoon by sprinting over for his 99th regular season Top League try in the seventh minute following a good break by Richard Buckman.
Daniel Heenan, 34, galloped over shortly later and then turned creator as his good line-out take eventually saw Holani go over from a well-constructed driving maul.
Masaki Tani then added to the lead before the Red Sparks hit back with Naoki Sarugaku making the most of a good kick pass from Lafaele to go over and make it 26-7 at the break.
Atsushi Sakate, who led Teikyo University to its seventh straight collegiate title earlier this year, extended the lead in the 45th minute following some good work by Kitagawa and Heenan in the buildup.
Thirty-year-old prop Naoki Kawamata then showed a fine turn of pace to go over before Buckman was rewarded for another good afternoon of work with his third try in four games.
Lafaele's try in the 66th minute showed why he was a late call-up to the extended Japan squad that is preparing for the November tests. But it was nothing more than a consolation effort.
"We attacked well at times but then lost the ball and they ran back and scored," said Cola lock Jimmy Maher. "They are smart. They do the simple things well. We didn't."
All that remained was whether Kitagawa could bring up a century of tries.
Fumiaki Tanaka did his best to put the wing away but Kitagawa fluffed his lines, dropping the ball when history beckoned.
"He was thinking about me and I was thinking he was going to score. It wasn't the right combination," Kitagawa said with a smile.