Dan Cole rolled back the years to rescue Leicester and preserve their unbeaten season.
On a dank and foggy east midlands afternoon Tigers boss Steve Borthwick sent for the former England prop after his misfiring side fell two scores behind with 20 minutes to go.
Cole, 34, responded by grabbing the set-piece by the scruff of the neck and creating the platform for Freddie Steward and Hosea Saumaki to win the Champions Cup tie with late tries.
A delighted Borthwick said: “Some older players keep pushing to be the best they can be, others fade away.
“Dan is a very mature, very composed rugby player. You have got this guy at the age he is who just keeps putting in great performances.”
Two years after the trauma of England’s World Cup final scrum savaging at the hands of South Africa, here was proof that Cole can still add value at the top level.
His 268th Leicester appearance brought a 13th straight win of the campaign for the Premiership leaders who now jointly top Pool B in a competition badly disrupted by Covid travel restrictions.
But a side last beaten on June 5 made hard work of getting past Connacht after failing to build on early tries by Nic Dolly and Bryce Hegarty.
John Porch and Jack Carty poached tries as the Irish province scored 17 unanswered points to silence the 17,222 crowd.
While others were appearing to lose their heads, Borthwick kept his to shuffle his team and come up with a winning formula - Cole coming on with Julian Montoya and James Whitcombe in an all-new front row.
The effect was immediately felt as Connacht conceded three straight scrum penalties and prop Finlay Bealham was sin-binned.
With centre Bundee Aki needed to shore up the scrum, Tigers pounced on the extra space outside for England fullback Steward to score.
Five minutes later they did so again, Saumaki coming off the wing to power through threadbare Irish cover and take back the lead.
A last-gasp Carty drop goal rescued a losing bonus point but Connacht boss Andy Friend conceded: “Leicester flexed their muscles and they hurt us.”
European bosses must now decide how to rearrange games lost to France's travel ban. A decision is set to be left until after the third and fourth pool rounds next month.
Tigers meanwhile return to league business and a Boxing Day trip to Bristol made all the more intriguing by Bears signing Leicester captain Ellis Genge last week and posting a video of him embracing his soon-to-be boss Pat Lam.
It enraged Tigers fans, particularly coming hard on the heels of George Ford announcing he too is leaving in the summer.
Borthwick said: “Look, both of those players had personal reasons, different personal reasons, to make the decisions they made.
“Both of them said if it was simply rugby they might well be making a different decision. We will get on with trying to move forward.”
LEICESTER - Tries: Dolly, Hegarty, Steward, Saumaki. Cons: Burns, Hegarty 2. Pen: Hegarty.
CONNACHT - Tries: Porch, Carty. Cons: Carty 2. Pens: Carty 2. Drop: Carty.
