Bundee Aki was the star of the show with a late try that sealed the win and pushed them further clear at the top of the GUINNESS PRO12 table.
With Munster losing, Scarlets took the opportunity to leapfrog them into second, but were pushed hard by Zebre in a hard-fought game on Sunday.
Everything looked to be going smoothly for Wayne Pivac's side, who led 17-0 at half-time thanks to tries from Aled Davies and Hadleigh Parkes.
However the Italians fought back with a Dries van Schalkwyk double, eventually going down 20-12 as they narrowly missed out on a losing bonus point due to a late Steve Shingler penalty.
In the other Irish derby Leinster showed all their grit and determination to edge past Ulster in Dublin, battling to an 8-3 victory.
Defences were on top for most of the game, but a Sean Cronin try from a rolling maul was enough for Leo Cullen's side as they coped with everything Ulster threw at them.
The third derby of the weekend took place in Wales, where the Ospreys maintained their excellent recent run against Cardiff Blues with a ninth straight victory over the team from the capital.
They didn't have it all their own way, with the Blues keeping their hosts scoreless for nearly an hour, but eventually skipper Alun Wyn Jones broke through for the Ospreys, and two late penalties from Sam Davies sealed the 13-6 win.
It was also a successful weekend for Scottish sides, with Edinburgh particularly impressive on Friday night as they cruised past Newport Gwent Dragons 32-13.
Taking full advantage of the Dragons' indiscipline - they had four men sin-binned in the second half - Edinburgh ran in four tries, including Matt Scott's late score to seal the bonus point.
Finally GUINNESS PRO12 champions Glasgow Warriors were given a real scare at home to Benetton Treviso, who were desperately unlucky not to pick up a first win of the season.
Trailing for much of the game, Glasgow finally broke their opponents down with ten minutes remaining as Adam Ashe scored the crucial try in their 13-6 success.
TRY OF THE WEEKEND
It was a historic weekend for Connacht as they travelled to Munster and cemented their place at the summit of the GUINNESS PRO12. Leading by a point in the dying minutes, they sealed the win with a stunning score. After Robbie Henshaw's initial break in the 22, Bundee Aki was on hand to collect a pop pass and then finish acrobatically sealing the win.
BREAK OF THE WEEKEND
Kiwi centre Hadleigh Parkes had quite the game against Zebre, scoring the opening try of the game. More impressive though was his arcing run and break in midfield as the Scarlets went in again. Collecting the ball from Aled Thomas, he picked a superb line to go clean through before finding Aled Davies inside him for the score.
PLAY OF THE WEEKEND
Glasgow Warriors spent most of their game against Treviso on the back foot, and were in danger of losing a second home league game of the season. Adam Ashe had other ideas though, and with a scrum five metres out he chose to hold onto the ball and showed all his power to rumble through the desperate defence and go under the posts.
PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND
Tighthead props don't get enough credit but it was hard to miss WP Nel's impact in Edinburgh's bonus point win over the Dragons. He kicked things off with the opening try, and almost had a second in the closing stages of the first half. Not only that, he gave his opposite numbers a torrid time in the scrum with first Boris Stankovich and then Phil Price sin-binned for set-piece infringements. All in all, a dream night for the Scotland prop.
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