| The men from the west of Ireland recorded a 22-17 win over Leicester Tigers at a packed Sportsground in Galway. Although outscored three tries to one the Irish side produced a superb performance, with Mark McHugh to the fore in the pulsating final minutes as Connacht hung on for the win.
Elsewhere Leinster were also winners – with a comfortable 64-14 win over Italian side Parma in Nass while Munster also got a pre-season boost with a 20-18 win over Northampton Saints despite the absence of many of their top names. However their was less to cheer for the fourth Irish side with Ulster going down to a 17-9 home defeat at the hands of London Irish. On the plus side Ulster were able to field Neil McMillan, Jonny Bell and James Topping who were all returning from long term injury, while Justin Harrison made his first appearance in front of the Ravenhill crowd.
Llanelli Scarlets also were on the wrong side of the result at the weekend going down 24-20 to Worcester, although Dafydd James scored on his return to Llanelli colours.
A young Cardiff Blues side ran in six tries as they outgunned Pontypridd 40-10 while Glasgow were also in control of their game winning 55-7 against Rotherham.
The Border Reivers produced a polished display after their long trip to Devon where they overcame the Exeter Chiefs, however Edinburgh went down - but buy only a point to Sale Sharks in the Gunners first home game of the season. Newport Gwent Dragons also made the trip to the west of England at the weekend running out 23-19 winners against Penzance, with Debutant Leigh Hinton scoring 18 points.
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