Rob Baxter: Exeter Chiefs boss eyes growing Bristol Bears rivalry

Bristol went top of the Premiership in January after beating champions Exeter 20-7 at Sandy Park

Exeter boss Rob Baxter hopes his side's rivalry with nearest Premiership neighbours Bristol can grow.

Second-placed Chiefs go to leaders Bristol on Friday 12 points behind the Bears after 16 rounds of matches.

"I think it's brilliant," Baxter said of the success of the two sides.

"It would be fantastic for us, and I can't talk for Bristol but I would imagine it would be great for Bristol if it's a rivalry that grows and really thrives over a number of years."

A loss could effectively end Exeter's hopes of ending the season in first place, having topped the regular season table for the previous three years.

Both sides won their first European title last season - Exeter winning the Champions Cup and Bristol winning the Challenge Cup - while it was Bristol that Exeter beat to gain promotion to the Premiership back in 2010.

"At the end of the day I'm not going to turn down the opportunity if someone turns around and says 'Bristol and Exeter are going to be towards the top end of the table competing in semi-finals and finals for the next 10 years', I'll take that now and I think Bristol probably would as well," said Baxter.

"If every Bristol and Exeter Chiefs game is a sell out because there's an additional rivalry, well that's great for us, we've got an expanded stadium being built at the moment.

"If we can guarantee we can pack in 15-odd thousand for that game we'd be delighted, and I imagine if Bristol could sell out Ashton Gate, a big rivalry game, that'd be fantastic for them as well."

Baxter hopes that a rivalry between his and Pat Lam's side could match that between the likes of Leicester and Northampton in the last decade, which was often played out at the top end of the Premiership.

"It's not all that long ago there were huge derby games that weren't just the biggest games for the individual clubs involved, but they were the biggest games in the Premiership for the people watching," he added.

"I hope we're in it for the right reasons and we deserve to be around the top end of the table.

"I think it can only be good for us and I think local derbies are the best thing in sport."