Matt Dawson returned to Northampton and Corne Krige, whose arrival at the Saints precipitated the scrum-half's departure, greeted him with a marginally late tackle. But it was the former South Africa captain who ended up on the floor as his side slipped to a third consecutive defeat.
The pair shared a perfunctory handshake at the end, Dawson refusing to delight in his former employers' misery. He had survived rather than thrived, caught in possession four times, fortunate on the last occasion that Northampton blew another promising position deep in Wasps' territory.
It was an unreal afternoon. Virtually all the attacking took place at the bottom end of the ground, but all bar three of the points were scored in front of the clubhouse and the only try came at the start of the second half when the wing Ed Thrower, who had replaced the hapless Michael Roberts at the interval, prospered from Peter Richards's burst through Mark Tucker's weak tackle.
"It has not been an easy week," said Dawson, whose potential availability for Wasps in the November international period after being dropped from the England squad was timely after it was discovered that Robert Howley's wrist operation was not a success with the Welshman unlikely to return until the new year.
"The phone did not stop ringing with requests for interviews and television, but I turned them down and concentrated on the game. I understand that I had a good reception from the fans when I arrived, but I had my headphones on and my head down. I am just glad it is over because today was a one-off."
An off-day for the Saints, whose bold start to the season has become a faded memory. They dominated the second-half but failed to score a point and tried, with increasing desperation, to read a script which had run in the rain.
Their failure to improvise was summed up at the end when Shane Drahm, their fly-half, had occupied a deep position to drop the winning goal, but did not have the speed of thought to react when the pass failed to reach him on the full.
"We lost because we were not tactically smart enough," said the Northampton head coach Alan Solomons whose opposite number Warren Gatland had questioned the Saints' policy of recruiting legions of foreign players.
"If you are bringing in players from overseas, they have to be of real quality," said Gatland. "I may be a New Zealander, but what I am trying to achieve at Wasps is the development of English talent. Northampton have gone the other way and the danger with so many different cultures is that you lose your identity as a club."
The South African Solomons, who started with only five England-qualified players, was dismissive. "Our side has just come together whereas Wasps have a core of players who have been there for a long time."
Considering that Wasps were missing eight internationals, Saints wasted a prime opportunity to put one over on the champions. For all their dominance of the set-pieces, they were devoid of ideas and had no fall-back when Drahm missed two penalties.
Northampton: Reihana; Rudd (Cohen, 59), Tucker, Stcherbina (Clarke, 63), Human; Drahm, Robinson; Smith, Thompson, Kempson, Boome, Lord (Browne, 69), Fox, Krige (capt), Blowers.
Pens: Drahm 3.
Wasps: Van Gisbergen; Roberts (Thrower, h-t), Richards, Hoadley, Voyce; King (Brooks, 65), Dawson; McKenzie (Nwume 78), Greening (Leota, 69), Payne, Hart, Birkett, Worsley, O'Connor, Dallaglio (capt).
Try: Thrower. Con: King. Pen: King.
Referee: A Rowden (Berkshire). Att: 12,036.
