Healy's try after just seven minutes was followed by efforts from Kieran Marmion, Eoin McKeon and Craig Ronaldson to ensure the bonus point was wrapped up for the hosts before the break.

Denis Buckley added a fifth shortly after the restart and while the final try of the night went the way of Zebre's Johan Meyer, it was not enough to deny Connacht their third straight home victory for the first time since the turn of the year.

Connacht head coach Pat Lam opted to make just one change to the side which beat Cardiff Blues last time out with tighthead prop Rodney Ah You returning to the fray following injury.

And it was the home side could got the early points on the board with Ronaldson sending over his penalty on three minutes after Zebre were pinged for an infringement in the ruck.

The Italians came into the match without a GUINNESS PRO12 win all season but they were boosted by the return of their World Cup stars, with hooker Andrea Manici and lock Valerio Bernabo coming straight into the starting line-up.

And they looked to hit back immediately with an attacking scrum just inside Connacht's 22.

However a knock-on handed the initiative to the hosts who seized it in devastating fashion - Ronaldson kicking forward for Healy who chased down his own chip forward to cross - the former adding the conversion for a 10-0 lead inside ten minutes.

Edoardo Padovani did reduce the deficit immediately afterwards with a penalty but they were unable to sustain the pressure and on 21 minutes Connacht had their second try.

Bundee Aki booted the ball forward from inside his own half which the keen Healy once again pounced upon before flicking up for Marmion to score, with Ronaldson's extras making it 17-3.

And just six minutes later it was try number three as Connacht successfully executed their set piece, with Quinn Roux jumping for the ball following a five metre lineout and McKeon was credited with the try after following the driving maul.

It was certainly proving to be an entertaining half with Zebre continuing to battle despite the scoreline.

And they got a reward on 35 minutes when a 10m line out saw the ball worked out to winger Dion Berryman who went over, with Padovani converting.

There was still time for Connacht to wrap up the try bonus point before the break though as the hosts made the most of having a numerical advantage - Andrea Lavotti having been shown a yellow for pulling back Marmion by his shirt - with Ronaldson stepping his way past two defenders to go in under the posts for an easy conversion to make it 29-10.

Connacht needed just eight minutes to add their fifth try when another successful driving maul resulted in Buckley touching down, although Ronaldson's conversion came back off the right post.

A stream of replacements then saw the flow of the game disrupted somewhat with the scoreboard slowing right down.

Mistakes were creeping on both sides with Zebre struggling to keep their line out straight on several occasions, including when well placed within the Connacht 22.

Connacht's final replacement entered the field on 72 minutes with Conor McKeon coming on for his Sportsground debut and the fly-half was immediately required to turn his hand to defence as Zebre attacked late on.

The Italians got a late consolation though as Connacht's defence crumbled when Aki was sent to the bin and Mayer nipped over to score.

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