With their fourth win of the EPCR Challenge Cup pool stage, Connacht Rugby put themselves in a great position for the top ranking spot when holding off a Cardiff Rugby comeback in the Welsh capital.
Connacht Rugby landed the first blow against Cardiff Rugby in the Welsh capital, with Josh Murphy breaking the deadlock with a great line and step.
Cardiff hit back shortly after Evan Lloyd muscled his way to the line from close quarters.
Joe Joyce put Connacht back in front, powering over from close range with Josh Ioane converting to send them into the sheds 14-7 up.
Thomas Young broke away from a ruck through the middle for Cardiff Rugby to add to their score in the first half.
Connacht Rugby hit back shortly after to regain the lead, with Byron Ralston finishing some great hands to add to Josh Murphy and Joe Joyce's first-half scores.
But again the hosts responded through Young once more, with some fancy footwork and a grubber out wide, before getting it back to speed into the corner, closing the gap to 21-19.
Continuing the back-and-forth, Matthew Devine then crashed over for Connacht, and JJ Hanrahan's conversion was enough to see the game out 28-19 for the visitors.
Scorers:
Cardiff Rugby: Tries: Evan Lloyd, Thomas Young (2). Conversions: Ben Thomas (2).
Connacht Rugby: Tries: Josh Murphy, Joe Joyce, Byron Ralston, Matthew Devine. Conversions: Josh Ioane (3), JJ Hanrahan.
Teams
Cardiff Rugby: 15 Jacob Beetham, 14 Gabe Hamer-Webb, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Ben Thomas (c), 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Evan Lloyd, 1 Rhys Barratt. Replacements: 16 Efan Daniel, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Seb Davies, 21 Johan Mulder, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Cam Winnett.
Connacht Rugby: 15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 Piers O'Conor, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Byron Ralston, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Cian Prendergast (c), 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Josh Murphy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley. Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitlear, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 David O'Connor, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 David Hawkshaw.