Wales legend Sam Warburton says Welsh rugby "needs the Premiership" after Bristol Bears and Bath played out an enthralling league derby at the Principality Stadium. The two English sides took their clash over the border on Saturday for the Bears' 'Big Day Out', their first attempt at hosting a Gallagher Premiership match at the home of Welsh rugby. There are hopes that it will become an annual occurrence and the event certainly got off to a promising start, with 51,095 fans piling into the stadium to watch Bristol run out as 36-14 winners. That attendance is in stark contrast to the number of supporters sat in the stadium for Judgement Day three weeks ago, with just 28,328 people coming to watch the four Welsh regions in action in the annual United Rugby Championship double-header. The contrasting interest in the two events has seen the idea of an Anglo-Welsh league explored again, with several senior figures in the game - including Bristol head coach Pat Lam - talking up the benefits of such a move. Up until recently, there had been talks of the Premiership and the URC merging with an Anglo-Welsh conference to be included in that competition, but they fell through. However, Warburton admits he is "envious" of what's on offer in England's top competition and believes that Welsh rugby needs to be a part of it to help the state of the game on this side of the border. On punditry duty for TNT Sports for the Principality Stadium clash, the former Wales skipper said: “It’s lovely being a neutral (at the Principality) for a change, I can enjoy the rugby no matter what happens. “When this game was announced a while ago I thought it was a really nice idea. Now it is justified, it seems there is going to be a minimum 50,000 here." “I have been doing the Premiership all season," he added. "I can’t help but envy every ground I go to, whether it is Kingsholm, even AJ Bell, great stadiums. Exeter, you do down there, Bath is always rocking, Bristol. “I’m thinking personally Welsh rugby needs this, [it] needs the Premiership." However, Warburton went on to pose the million-dollar question, the answer to which will decide the fate of any potential future Anglo-Welsh league proposals. "The big question I guess, is whether the Premiership needs us," he added. "I don’t know but I do feel that the Welsh, I look across the Bridge and look at what product you have got (in England) and what gates you get in, the jeopardy you have in the competition, Welsh rugby needs this.” It comes after Lam told WalesOnline's Welsh Rugby Podcast that he believes an Anglo-Welsh league "makes sense" for English clubs. "I'm probably neutral because I loved it when I was at Connacht playing against Cardiff , Scarlets , Ospreys and Dragons," the Bristol boss said. "For us it makes sense if we've got 10 teams and there's four over there. I don't want to be controversial but I can see an Anglo-Welsh league would be huge as well. That's up for other people to decide but it's on the same island. "There's the history as well. People tell me back in the day Bristol used to play Cardiff in midweek and there used to be sellouts here and over there," he added. "One of the reasons is there's a close affinity between the Welsh and the Bristolians as well. I'm not the guy who decides all these things but if it ever went down to an Anglo-Welsh I could see it being successful."