Even the debut of All Black prop Carl Hayman – whilst significantly switching momentum after his half-time introduction – was not enough to seal the deal as the hail stone fell, and a dogged Wasps side managed the conditions better to earn a deserved victory.

With returning fly half Jonny Wilkinson falling fractionally short from a penalty just inside the Wasps half in the opening minutes, opposite number Danny Cipriani also erred with his first shot of the posts before finally breaking the deadlock on ten minutes with a 40-metre penalty.

Showing hunger at the ruck and a sound execution of the basics in horrendous handling conditions, a second Cipriani penalty doubled the hosts' advantage before the first try of the afternoon midway through the half.

Scrum half Eoin Reddan – a fully-merited man of the match – was the man to grab it, with the Irish scrum half pouncing on turnover ball to scurry down the blindside and chip over the retreating Tom May, sliding in the wet to beat the Falcons defenders to the loose ball by milliseconds in the left corner.

With the Falcons' gains restricted to big defensive hits from Jamie Noon on England wing Paul Sackey, it was all going the way of the men in black when Newcastle were reduced to 14 men with a collapsed scrum seeing prop Jon Golding sent to the sin-bin.

Straight from the resulting penalty Wasps opted for the five-metre reset, and made their advantage tell as referee Malcolm Changleng raced under the posts to award a penalty try from the subsequent set piece – Cipriani adding the extras for an 18-0 interval lead.

The appearance of gigantic prop Hayman gave the Falcons a visible lift as the second half got underway, forcing a penalty from his very first scrum in a Newcastle shirt from which Wilkinson slotted the Falcons' opening points 40 metres out down the left wing.

With skipper Phil Dowson forcing a midfield turnover and Noon again emptying Sackey with a big hit, things seemed to be slowly swinging the way of the visitors – a feeling that was exacerbated on 47 minutes as Wilkinson drilled over a second penalty from the left hand side to narrow the gap to 12.

But in a disappointing finale to the game the only other dents on the scoreboard went the way of the hosts via two more Cipriani penalties, with the atrocious conditions curtailing any real sense of adventure from either side as knock-ons and wayward passing blighted the final quarter.

Points of note for the travelling Falcons included a 30-metre weaving run from fullback Tait and a big hit from replacement flanker Brent Wilson, but in a game bereft of cohesion and interplay the final whistle came with neither side looking anything like crossing the try line.

With it went the Falcons' Cup hopes for another season, as John Fletcher's side now look forward to Friday's trip to Connacht and continuing their 100 per cent record in Europe this season.

London Wasps:

Tries: Reddan, Penalty try
Cons: Cipriani
Pens: Cipriani 4

Newcastle Falcons:

Pens: Wilkinson 2

London Wasps:

15 Mark Van Gisbergen
14 Paul Sackey (Josh Lewsey, 70)
13 Fraser Waters
12 Riki Flutey
11 Tom Voyce
10 Danny Cipriani
9 Eoin Reddan (Simon Amor, 73)

1 Tim Payne
2 Joe Ward (Rob Webber, 73)
3 Phil Vickery
4 Simon Shaw (Richard Birkett, 70)
5 George Skivington
6 John Hart (Dan Leo, 78)
7 James Haskell
8 Lawrence Dallaglio (captain)

Newcastle Falcons:

15 Mathew Tait
14 Tom May
13 Jamie Noon
12 Toby Flood
11 John Rudd (Tim Visser, 64)
10 Jonny Wilkinson
9 James Grindal (Lee Dickson, 60)

1 Jon Golding (Joe McDonnell, 55)
2 Matt Thompson (Andy Long, 47)
3 David Wilson (Carl Hayman, 40)
4 Andy Perry (Brent Wilson, 64)
5 Mark Sorenson
6 Geoff Parling
7 Ben Woods
8 Phil Dowson (captain)

Referee: Malcolm Changleng
Attendance: 7,490