Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said he was “absolutely delighted” as his side held on for a deserved away win at Connacht.
The visitors had trailed 10-0 but struck with a Zac Ward brace to lead 12-10 at half-time.
They soon wrapped up a bonus point with Werner Kok touching down and a penalty try.
However, Stuart Lancaster’s men, beaten heavily by Dragons in round seven, regathered and scored two late tries to secure a losing bonus point
“Absolutely delighted,” said Murphy, whose side take on Munster in Belfast on Friday, said after the 29-24 win.
“At the end, we’re hanging on there, you’re also very aware that we’re in Connacht and Connacht are hurting from last weekend.
“They’re never going to give up without a fight.”
Ulster remain in fifth with five wins from seven and have a game in hand due to a postponement in round two.
Murphy (above) added: “To get back in at 12-10 at half-time, I thought we actually played some really good rugby in that second period of before half-time where we started moving the ball and bringing some of our big outside backs into the game.
“They’re a handful for any team, we started moving the ball to space and we were much more effective with ball in hand.
“We rotated and obviously brought in two international standard props at half-time.
“That was what we were thinking about, getting them on there early in order to give us a little bit of carry power and both of them were very effective and done quite well for us in that second half.
“I thought for the middle period of the game…from 20 minutes or 25 minutes in the first half into 20 minutes 25 minutes in the second half, I thought we saw some of the quality of rugby that we can play.”
Lancaster’s Connacht side, who face Leinster next Saturday at the Aviva Stadium, have now lost five of their seven games and sit in ninth place in the table.
