Baxter joins Hall of Fame

After his induction into the Premiership Rugby Hall of Fame Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter wants to see his players follow suit in years to come.

Baxter was welcomed into the elite club alongside Tom Walkinshaw, Ed Morrison and former Leicester Tigers trio George Chuter, Lewis Moody and Martin Johnson.

Johnson, Baxter, Morrison, Chuter and Moody were present at the HAC in the City of London, while Walkinshaw – who passed away in 2010 – was represented by his son Ryan, currently the majority shareholder at Gloucester Rugby and former Gloucester Managing Director, Ken Nottage.

And the 42-year-old, who captained Exeter for a decade during his playing days, would like to see the current crop of Chiefs follow the footsteps of the once-dominant Tigers.

“I’m thrilled to be in this sort of company,” he said. “It’s a nice reward and a nice accolade. My personal view is that I would like to be involved because I’m part of an Exeter Chiefs side that is winning things down the line. We’ve got in the Premiership, we’re up there now, we’re enjoying it and we’re doing well.

“We’re talking about Martin Johnson and Lewis Moody tonight, who have gone on and been stars playing for England and they are Leicester players.

“I would very much like to be in the Hall of Fame with some Exeter players like that, because they have been in the Premiership with Exeter and we’ve won things and they’ve played for England and won World Cups.”

Baxter has become synonymous with the club over the last 20 years and he is currently leading them to unprecedented success in the Aviva Premiership and Heineken Cup.

And he knows the Chiefs are now a fully established top-flight club, with aspirations of closing in on the league’s big guns.

“I’m very emotionally involved in the club,” Baxter added. “I think that brings the best out of myself and anything that helps the club move forward, I’m very much part of.

“Exeter is very much an unfinished project as far as I’m concerned. We’re not in stage one, because that happened a few years ago.

“We feel quite comfortable with where we are, we are very happy being in the Premiership but we want to be better and want to move forward.”

The Premiership Rugby Hall of Fame – supported by British Airways and Heathrow Express – raised money for both Sport Relief and The Supporters Club.