And so, the first slice of the season is over. The domestic now gives way to the European. After two jaw-droppingly physical Zurich rounds at Leicester and here, Bath must be looking forward to some Heineken light relief. Bourgoin are unlikely to provide it.
Wasps, as champions of both England and the Continent, probably don't mind whether they play internally or externally. They came here with half a team out injured, played on the back foot and squeezed out a victory.
It wasn't even exactly businesslike, for their umbrella defence was often left flapping, their scrummage was uncomfortable in the first half and they offered little broad vision in attack. But for bloody-mindedness, it was first-rate. There will be more handsome clubs in rugby, but few do resilience like Lawrence Dallaglio's bunch.
Bath began in ecstasy. For nearly a minute they looked in the mood to rip any side apart, whether good-looking or resolute. They retrieved from the kick-off and went this way and that, threatening with every pass to score. Wasps scrambled the ball away again, and back came Bath. Lee Best then threw the killer pass... and it fell into the safe hands of Bath old boy Tom Voyce, who strolled in from 60 metres.
It wasn't exactly a fluke try for the visitors, because Mike Tindall, of all people, nearly gifted them another interception try just a few minutes later. But it wasn't the result of many hours of minute choreography on the training ground.
It wasn't going to be a day of slickness for Wasps. Olly Barkley ran through them a couple of times; Best and Brendon Daniel had a run or three; Robbie Fleck, too. Wasps were on scramble alert. Their first-up defensive line wasn't at its most devastating, but Jonny O'Connor was everywhere.
Bath tried to drag these loose defenders into something more bound to the set piece. While Duncan Bell was doing his stint of scrummaging - he was replaced on the half-hour by Matt Stevens - Bath opted to reset a five-long series of five-metre scrummages, despite being awarded free-kicks and penalties during the sequence.
They did not manage to shunt Wasps back over the line, and in the end took the three points on offer when the opposition front row went up again. But not many teams would fancy their chances of out-muscling the Zurich champions at the set piece.
It seemed that the direct assault up front would have greater reward elsewhere. Tindall was soon clean through the middle. But he looked to offload in vain. Nobody was quite there.
And, when, 12 minutes later, it seemed that Andrew Higgins had eventually found a way through, video replay revealed he had lost control of the ball at the end of his dive over the line. All the good work had come to, well, not exactly nought, for Barkley had added another penalty, but to not much. A long penalty by Ed Thrower meant that Wasps were four points ahead at the interval.
Thrower had two early chances in the second half to stretch the gap, but he failed to land either penalty attempt. But at least his team were at the right end of the field. It was as if they had swapped back foot for front in the changing room.
Bath still managed to make a couple of clean breaks, but they failed to put the final pass away. And Wasps were making them launch their breaks from a long way out. While they were in the territorial ascendancy they were ticking up the points. Thrower readjusted his sights and landed two penalties, and James Brooks dropped a neat goal to keep the lead at 10 points after Barkley's third penalty.
The emphatic nature of the win was upset by Chris Malone's late try. Bath had landed a try-scoring pass at last. But they never came close to the line again. They go into Europe spitting slightly in frustration. Wasps go in with jaws clenched and sinews bursting. It is the way of the champions, wherever they play.
BATH: Best (Malone 74); Higgins, Fleck, Tindall, Daniel (Davey 47); Barkley, Wood (Walshe 52); Barnes, Humphreys (Mears 58), Bell (Stevens 31), Borthwick (capt), Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman, Fea'unati.
WASPS: Van Gisbergen; Thrower, Richards, Erinle (Hoadley 74), Voyce; Brooks (King 79), Biljon; Payne, Greening (Leota 61), Green (Mackenzie 61), Hart, Birkett, Worsley, O'Connor, Dallaglio.
Referee: S Lander.
