There was no happy return for Nigel Melville six weeks after leaving Wasps for the West Country. His former charges consolidated their late surge for a play-off place with their fifth consecutive league victory at home in a lively encounter that saw two players sent off for fighting as Twickenham's clampdown on punching took root.
There was a period this season when Wasps under Melville struggled to win at home and he is now the director of rugby at a club who struggle on the road.
Leicester will be crowned champions if they defeat Newcastle at Welford Road on Saturday. They will also lift the title if they lose and Gloucester are defeated at Northampton.
Gloucester started the evening second in the table despite a run of five away matches that had seen them muster only one victory. The self-belief that powers them at Kingsholm turns into tentativeness on their travels and they found themselves 10 points down after only 12 minutes.
After Alex King and Ludovic Mercier had traded early penalties, Wasps broke a surprising number of tackles and fashioned a simple try from a line-out: a long pass brought Josh Lewsey into the line at pace and he brushed aside the challenge of Tom Beim to claim his first league try since the opening month of the season.
Gloucester tightened up and their mauling game yielded two more Mercier penalties, but Twickenham's new zero-tolerance policy kicked in after 27 minutes when Paul Volley and Robert Todd traded punches on the floor.
Though other players eventually joined in to make it harder for the referee Ashley Rowden to take action against the pair, he had seen enough. It did not deter the others and the two captains were given a long lecture by Rowden just before the break after further outbreaks of fighting.
Wasps extended their lead with a try by Todd's opposite number Stuart Abbott after King, in trouble after receiving a poor pass on halfway, jinked through three tackles.
Gloucester were even more dismal after the break as Wasps claimed only their third try bonus point of the season. Trevor Leota and Martyn Wood burrowed over from short range, the second coming after Rob Fidler had been sent to the sin-bin for preventing release of the ball at a ruck.
Ian Jones dominated the line-out against his former club, where he may return as a coach next season, while King varied his game behind. Mark Lock strolled over in the final minute to emphasise Wasps's total superiority.
Wasps: Lewsey; Rosier, Waters, Abbott (Denney, 70), Sampson (Logan, 57); King (Friday, 70), Wood; Dowd (McKenzie, 70), Leota (Greening, 63), Green, Shaw, Jones (Beardshaw, 70), Worsley, Volley, Dallaglio (capt; Lock, 63). Scorers: Tries: Lewsey, Abbott, Leota, Wood, Lock. Cons: King 4, Logan. Pens: King 2. Drop goal: King. Red card: Volley 27
Gloucester: O'Leary; Albanese (Ewens, 67), Fanolua, Todd, Beim; Mercier, Gomarsall (Yachvili, 46); Collazo, Fortey (Azam, 63), Deacon (Pucciarello, 52), Fidler (Pierce, 70), Cornwell, Boer (capt), Forrester (Paul, 36), Paramore. Scorer: Pens: Mercier 3. Red card: Todd 27. Yellow card: Fidler 59.
Referee: A Rowden (Berkshire). Att: 5,769.
