The West Wales region scored four tries at home to the Irish province to claim a crucial bonus-point. The two sides are now locked on 33 points, but Pat Lam’s sixth placed side remain in the European qualification spots thanks to an extra victory.
And Pivac is hoping the 32-14 triumph can act as a catalyst in their bid to retain their seat at Europe’s top table.
He said: “It keeps everything alive. Obviously, we’re striving to finish as high up the table as we can. We knew that this month is a big month for us with four Irish teams. We’ve got another two at home and we’ve got to make sure we back this up with another good performance next week against Munster.
“This has definitely kept us alive and Edinburgh at home is going to be another big one. We’ve got some big matches coming up and we’re just taking it week by week. But we do realise we have to get as many points as we can from Irish opposition.”
Scarlets ripped up the form book to claim their first win in four matches, after a baron spell in the Champions Cup and LV=Cup. And Pivac said his tactic to rest some of his frontline stars paid off.
He said:“To get the bonus point was special. We had good weather. We knew it was going to be like that in the week and we trained very well, I thought.
“Resting some of the boys for the Sale match paid dividends. We were full of running today, which we needed to be because it was a big game. I’m very, very pleased to get the result.”