The Ireland winger marked his return from injury by touching down, along with CJ Stander, Andrew Conway, Dave Kilcoyne, and Gerhard van den Heever, to romp to a 54-13 win against Cardiff Blues.
A penalty try and 24 points from JJ Hanrahan's boot completed the scoring at Thomond Park, in the week Rob Penney revealed he would be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Leinster continue to breathe down the neck of their fellow Irish province, after pinching a bonus-point 31-8 win in Italy.
Matt O'Connor's side travelled to Parma to face a Zebre side in search of their first ever back-to-back RaboDirect PRO12 wins, but tries for John Cooney, Noel Reid and Zane Kirchner put them in control, before Darren Hudson scored late on to make it a perfect trip.
And Ulster ensured it is now an Irish one-two-three at the top, welcoming Ospreys to Ravenhill on Friday night and edging to a 10-7 victory to leapfrog the Welsh side into third.
Matthew Morgan shone at fly-half for Ospreys but it was Darren Cave who made the decisive contribution, dotting down in the second half to complete the hosts' comeback.
Scarlets survived a late Benetton Treviso fightback to kick a run of four straight RaboDirect PRO12 defeats, in a high-scoring encounter.
A Frazier Climo double led the way for Scarlets, who racked up six tries in total, but a flurry of second-half scores for the home side had Simon Easterby sweating, before man-of-the-match Jordan Williams dotted down late on.
And Glasgow Warriors edged out bottom club Connact at Scotstoun, as Mark Bennett grabbed the game's only try.
Scrum-half Henry Pyrgos, who signed a contract extension with the Warriors last week, put in a man-of-the-match display, as Glasgow closed the gap to the top four.
TRY OF THE WEEKEND
Ospreys may have slipped to defeat at Ulster and into fourth in the RaboDirect PRO12, but their try at Ravenhill on Friday night was a series of smart breaks and clever flicks.
It began with fly-half Morgan beating a string of Ulster defenders, before being held up narrowly short of the line.
Ospreys recycled the ball and, after a moment of inspiration from Jonathan Spratt and Tyler Ardron's back-of-the-hand offload, Sam Lewis was free to dive over the line.
BREAK OF THE WEEKEND
Frazier Climo's second try - a smart interception to streak clear from the halfway line - caught the eye but his fellow Scarlets wing, Kristian Phillips, out-did him soon after.
Phillips would go on to score later in the half, but his assist for Gareth Davies was a moment of powerful running and smart vision.
Bursting from a crowd of players inside his own half, Phillips showed great pace and neat footwork before spotting Davies on his left shoulder and offloading for the scrum-half to score.
PLAY OF THE WEEKEND
It was not the prettiest of build-ups but with the clock running down and Leinster one try short of a bonus point, Darren Hudson's finish was a brilliant moment of inspiration.
The Irish side were camped in Zebre's 22 and a sloppy missed pass was sent out to Hudson on the left wing, bouncing awkwardly in front of him.
The replacement picked up the ball, settled himself and, from a standing position, side-stepped his marker before racing over the line for that all-important score.
PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND
Five different Munster players crossed the whitewash in their thrashing of Cardiff Blues but the plaudits fell to a man who didn't make the scoresheet.
The Munstermen's veteran No.8 James Coughlan picked up his fourth man-of-the-match award of the season for another all-action performance from the back of the scrum.
The 33-year-old's display was typified by his role in the game's opening try, when his barnstorming charge following a lineout allowed Dave Kilcoyne to cross over.
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