Paolo Garbisi kicked 15 points to put Benetton within one win of a place in the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup final.
The Italy fly-half was again the key man for Kieran Crowley’s side as he helped them come from behind to get the better of Connacht and make it four wins from four in the competition.
As a result, Benetton know that victory over the Ospreys in a fortnight will clinch top spot in the north conference, regardless of other results.
Their closest challengers could be Munster, for whom CJ Stander signed off in his final home game with a victory. The Irish province were pushed all the way by Cardiff Blues though, with Tomos Williams grabbing two tries in a 31-27 loss that went down to the wire.
Elsewhere a pair of England centres, Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade, were both very influential, the former impressing on his return for Sale Sharks as they beat leaders Bristol Bears.
And Slade then scored two tries and was named man of the match in a big victory for Exeter Chiefs over Newcastle Falcons, while in the same game Stuart Hogg came off the bench and scored a try.
Slade’s England teammate Ellis Genge also got in on the try-scoring act, with two tries in Leicester Tigers’ victory over Worcester Warriors.
In France, Gaël Fickou was in fine form for Racing 92, helping himself to a hat-trick in a thumping win over Agen, while Antoine Dupont was also a try-scorer as Toulouse followed up their European success with a win over Clermont.
