Nathan Hughes, the 22-year-old who has seamlessly replaced Billy Vunipola in the Wasps' back row, could face England in the opening match of next year's World Cup, but he is considering whether to qualify for the men in white on residency in 2016.

Hughes, who joined Wasps from Auckland at the start of the season, is a Fijian who is also qualified to play for Samoa. England may have two tackle-breaking No8s in Vunipola and Ben Morgan, who was in Gloucester's back row on Saturday, but after a fourth man of the match in five matches, Hughes is making his mark on Premiership defenders.

He made a number of telling bursts against a Gloucester defence that at times regarded tackling as an optional extra, setting up the first try for his back-row colleague James Haskell, and he will in the coming weeks make a decision on his international future with Fiji looking to qualify for the World Cup, and the opening date with England, by beating the Cook Islands in June.

"I have had chats with Fiji and Samoa over the phone but nothing face-to-face," said Hughes. "The World Cup is something to consider, but in two years I will qualify for England. It is a hard decision to make and I will not be rushing into anything; I am still young and developing as a player."

Hughes's rise is all the more remarkable because he did not start playing rugby until he was 16. A successful hockey player who represented Fiji at Under-21 level when he was 15, he was persuaded to play for his school against a touring New Zealand team and was immediately offered a two-year scholarship at a school in Auckland.

"I played for Auckland in the provincial championship and had a development contract with the Blues," he said. "When they offered to continue that last year rather than give me a senior one, I looked around and joined Wasps. It was the right move for me: there is a family atmosphere at the club and we are playing some good rugby. We have the chance to make a European final and finishing seventh in the Premiership is in our hands."

The side that finishes seventh will have a play-off with a French club for a place in the Rugby Champions Cup. One more victory should seal it for Wasps with Exeter and Gloucester losing ground and while the crowd at English rugby's HQ was seven times their average this season at Adams Park, the importance of the afternoon for them was that they were moving forward again after three challenging years financially. They attacked with gusto, Hughes supported in the back row by the bustling Ashley Johnson and the workaholic Haskell, while Tom Varndell marked his return on the wing with his sixth try here in eight matches. They were never more vulnerable, though, then when they appeared to have taken control and a team with more cohesion than Gloucester, who were too individual and lacked a set-piece foundation, would have taken advantage.

"It was a bitterly disappointing day for us," said the Gloucester centre, Billy Twelvetrees. "We showed a lot of ambition but execution let us down and we missed two many tackles, which is unacceptable. We have to be smarter. I suppose it is a positive that we were within eight points of them after a performance like that, but we have it all to do to finish seventh and need 10 points from our final two matches."

Dai Young, the Wasps director of rugby, was left to salivate over the performance of his back row and Hughes in particular. "I have checked to see if he is qualified to play for Wales but the answer, sadly, is no," he said. "They had two England squad members in their back row and we showed up well against them. The frightening thing about Nathan, who is a real ball of energy, is that he is only going to get better. He will think long and hard about his international future and make the decision that is best for him."

Wasps: Masi; Helu, Daly, C Bell (capt; Hayter, 73), Varndell; Goode (Carlisle, 71), Simpson (Davies, 73); Mullan (McIntyre, 65), Festuccia (Lindsay, 65), Cooper-Woolley (Swainston, 33), Launchbury (Palmer, 68), Myall, Johnson, Haskell, Hughes (Jones, 68).

Tries: Haskell 2, Varndell, Daly, Johnson. Cons: Goode 4, Carlisle. Pen: Goode.

Sin-bin: Helu 42, Johnson 74, Masi 77.

Gloucester: Cook (Meakes, 73); Sharples, Tindall (Reynolds, 60), Twelvetrees, May; Burns, Cowan (Robson, 49); Wood (Murphy, 60), Edmonds (George, 73), Knight (Harden, 52), Stooke (Lokotui, 52), Hudson, Kalamafoni, Kvesic, Morgan (Moriarty, 70).

Tries: May, Edmonds, Burns. Cons: Twelvetrees 3. Pens: Twelvetrees 3.

Referee: W Barnes (London). Attendance: 38,294.