Under new bosses Steve Scott and Duncan Hodge Edinburgh dented Ulster's hopes of a home semi-final with a win at Murrayfield while Munster kept the pressure on the top four by seeing off Connacht.
At the Stadio Monigo Treviso completed the set of RaboDirect PRO12 victims with their first win over Cardiff Blues, but the Scarlets were victorious away to Zebre.
Finally in the all-Welsh affair at the Liberty Stadium defending champions Ospreys laid down a marker with a comprehensive win over the Dragons.
TRY OF THE WEEKEND
Usually it's the Scarlets backs who hog the limelight but in Parma second row Johan Snyman showed that he is just as capable of scoring long-range tries.
With the visitors leading 17-5 early in the second half Snyman collected the ball five metres inside his own half.
Spotting a small gap in the Zebre defensive line, Snyman burst through and then showed his pace as he ran fully 50 metres, stepping inside the covering tackle of Dries Van Schalkwyk before gleefully diving under the posts.
BREAK OF THE WEEKEND
Glasgow surrendered their place at the top of the RaboDirect PRO12 table but did enough to show that they will be very much in contention at the end of the season.
Their second try came from a stunning break by Canadian international DTH van der Merwe.
Playing on the wing, van der Merwe collected the ball about ten metres in from the left touchline, rounded Leinster's defence before streaking down the line and feeding Peter Horne to go over.
PLAY OF THE WEEKEND
One of the Ospreys' standout players all season, Kahn Fotuali'i produced another moment of magic as they put the Dragons to the sword.
Carlos Spencer famously threw a between the legs pass at the 2003 World Cup for New Zealand, and with his team backed inside their own 22, the Samoan scrum-half did the same to send Thomas Habberfield down the line.
He got the ball back from Habberfield and sprinted into Dragons territory although the move eventually broke down.
PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND
Several candidates but it's impossible to ignore Ian Madigan after his all-round display in the top of the table clash with Glasgow.
The Leinster fly-half scored all 22 of his side's points, including a try that came from a brilliant step through a gap which only he had seen.
With Jonathan Sexton still struggling with injury, Madigan showed once more that he is more than capable of stepping up for Joe Schmidt's side.
ONES TO WATCH
It was a weekend of returns in the RaboDirect PRO12, and no one will have been more relieved than Rob Penney to see Paul O'Connell back fit and playing again.
The 2009 British and Irish Lions captain was making his first RaboDirect PRO12 appearance of the season but showed no signs of rust as he led Munster to a vital win over Connacht. The giant second row even managed a rare try to help his team.
Dan Lydiate's return was less successful as the Dragons failed to deal with a rampant Ospreys side. But having not played since October, Lydiate will just have been grateful for the half he played as he looks to work his way back to full fitness after an ankle injury.
While O'Connell and Lydiate were returning from injury, Alessandro Zanni was back in Treviso colours after six weeks away with Italy on Six Nations duty. Fresh from the historic win over Ireland, he helped the Italians to their first win over the Blues, spinning out of a tackle to score a first-half try.
Finally Edinburgh got a taste of the future as they got off to a winning start under the new coaching team Hodge and Scott, with scrum-half Sean Kennedy instrumental.
Making his first start for Edinburgh since moving from Glasgow, he picked up a second win over Ulster in a month at Murrayfield.
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