A brace of tries from Tommy Bowe, along with efforts from Louis Ludik, Craig Gilroy and Rory Best, secured the bonus point which leaves Ulster on 63 points, two behind leaders Glasgow and two ahead of chasers the Ospreys.
Six Nations champions Best, Bowe and Jared Payne all returned to the starting lineup in Galway, with two other changes seeing Chris Henry preferred to Clive Ross for his first start since November, and Roger Wilson take over from the suspended Nick Williams.
Ludik continued at full-back with Bowe and Gilroy on the wings, Payne teaming with Darren Cave in the centre, and the half-back partnership of Paddy Jackson and Ruan Pienaar. In the pack, Best captained from hooker with Callum Black and Wiehahn Herbst either side, Dan Tuohy and Franco van der Merwe in the second row, and Ian Henderson joining Henry and Wilson at the back.
Ulster’s first try was not long in coming. A good early break from Payne, followed by a killer offload from Henry in the tackle as Ulster neared the whitewash, created the space for Ludik to touch down his third try in two games, Jackson providing the final pass for the fourth-minute score.
Pienaar’s conversion spun wide in the blustery wind, and after another narrow miss with an 11th-minute penalty from just shy of half-way, Connacht established their own foothold in the game as a series of penalties to touch took them deep into the Ulster ‘22’. After a close call on the try-line where the TMO was called upon to confirm Pienaar had applied downward pressure to the ball as he fished it out of a ruck with Bundee Aki also getting hands on, Ulster eventually cleared the danger with no points conceded.
Poor passing undid the next Connacht attack, and a superb solo raid from Cave on the half-hour mark stole 30 metres and took four men to bring down, before, in the very next attack, Jackson’s flat pass found Bowe 20 metres out with second row Quinn Roux the only obstacle in his way.
Bowe powered to the line for his fourth try of the season and, although Pienaar’s conversion sailed wide, two minutes from the restart the scrum-half was successfully converting the third Ulster try, Gilroy registering his 12th of the campaign as he found himself in acres of space on the left with the exposed Roux once more unable to deal with the pace of an Ulster wideman.
Half-Time Score Connacht 0 Ulster 17
Connacht opened the second half much more brightly, Matt Healy showing some Gilroyesque acceleration to leave Wilson and Cave in his wake but, again, the hosts failed to reap any rewards from their good work and Ulster cleared.
Healy was on hand again on 45 minutes, however, and this time he resisted Henry’s challenge to dart through a gap in the Ulster line and run in the try from the Ulster ‘22’, converted by Miah Nikora.
The New Zealander added a penalty on 51 minutes, prompting a swift reaction from Ulster as Bowe and Henderson both came close before Cave picked out the Monaghan man in the corner for his second score of the match.
The Pienaar conversion missed by some distance, and although replacement out-half Jack Carty’s 62nd-minute penalty gave Connacht a glimmer of hope, it proved all too brief as Best peeled off the back of a driving maul to ground try number five on 65 minutes, the conversion again missing.
Tiernan O’Halloran grabbed a consolation try for Connacht with 10 minutes remaining, converted by Carty, and there was still time for Healy and Robbie Henshaw to give Ulster a few late scares before Nigel Owens blew for full-time.
Ulster’s three remaining matches are all against top-five opposition, as Leinster visit Belfast on 24 April before the final home match against Munster on 9 May and an away trip to Glasgow on 16 May. With the playoff final confirmed at the Kingspan Stadium, victories in all three final fixtures would secure the considerable advantage of a home semi-final.
Full-Time Score Connacht 20 Ulster 27
Connacht (15 – 9) T O’Halloran; D Poolman, R Henshaw, B Aki, M Healy; M Nikora, K Marmion (1 – 8) D Buckley, T McCartney, R Ah You, Q Roux, A Muldowney, J Muldoon (c), E Masterson, G Naoupu
Replacements (16 – 23) S Delahunt, R Loughney, F Beatham, U Dillane, E McKeon, J Cooney, J Carty, D Leader
Ulster (15 – 9) L Ludik; T Bowe, J Payne, D Cave, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar (1 – 8) C Black, R Best (c), W Herbst, D Tuohy, F van der Merwe, I Henderson, C Henry, R Wilson
Replacements (16 – 23) R Herring, A Warwick, B Ross, R Diack, C Ross, P Marshall, I Humphreys, S McCloskey