THE information superhighway may well be up and racing, but news still seems to travel more slowly to some parts of the country than to others.

As the winter draws to its official close, Gloucester find themselves battling for a place in next season’s Heineken Cup against the most unlikely of opponents. Exeter Chiefs are actually one place higher in the Aviva Premiership and four points better off than the Cherry and Whites with just five games left to play. Haven’t the folk in the South West heard of ‘Second Season Syndrome’?

The phenomenon was originally observed in cricket. Batsmen who had exploded on to the scene in a flurry of runs almost inevitably faded as opponents worked them out. The drop-off was quite often spectacular and sometimes terminal. Players who had seemed destined for a long and illustrious career in the game found themselves facing not so much the bright lights as the dole queue.

The rule was just as relevant to rugby. The number of players who have arrived with a fanfare and sunk with barely a trace is huge. Clubs, too, have flattered to deceive as the energy, optimism and momentum that took them into the top flight evaporated swiftly in the face of a relentless barrage from older, more established and infinitely better-resourced opponents.

Exeter were widely expected to go the same way. When they beat Bristol in the Championship play-offs a couple of seasons ago, it was a surprise. When they beat Gloucester in their first Premiership match 18 months ago, it was a surprise. When the Chiefs finished comfortably clear of the relegation zone at the end of their first season, it was a surprise. Second time around, so the conventional wisdom went, the Chiefs would be hard pressed to avoid the drop.

Yet Exeter have confounded all expectations. True, Gloucester did gain some measure of revenge for last season’s opening shock when they won at Sandy Park in November, but the rest of the Aviva Premiership has been forced to sit up and take notice. The Chiefs have lost just once in the league since the turn of the New Year and they’ve reached the last eight of the Amlin Challenge Cup. In their last match, they hammered Sale by 37-12 and already this season they have done the double over Leicester, the team responsible for thrashing Gloucester in the last round of Premiership matches a couple of weekends ago by an even more convincing margin.

There’s no doubt that the Chiefs mean business. Even in the wildest dreams of coach Rob Baxter – surely the outstanding candidate for Coach of the Year at any or all of the end of season awards ceremonies – could Exeter have made this much progress so quickly.

Now, though, and well ahead of schedule, top-flight European rugby is within their grasp.

But, while the Chiefs have three away matches in their final five fixtures – against Gloucester, Worcester and Saracens – the Cherry and Whites have three at home. Newcastle and Sale have still to come to Kingsholm, but if Gloucester fail to beat Exeter this weekend those visits could be academic.

The Shed might want to celebrate the arrival of a new force in the Premiership – but not that much.