Saracens boss Mark McCall believes hooker Jamie George's return is a boost for the starting XV ahead of their clash with Northampton Saints.

George will return to the XV following an injury sustained on England duty and will line up alongside Mako Vunipola and Harvey Beaton in the front row.

Sarries currently sit second in the Gallagher Premiership Rugby table, with Northampton Saints in fifth, just three points off the play-off places.

The England international's return is one of four changes to the squad as they head to Franklin's Gardens for their first match of 2022.

McCall said: "He was nearly OK for last week, but this week he's raring to go, and it's great to have him back."

"Against Worcester, it was a heck of an effort considering our limited training time, so we want to build on that with two really tough games ahead of us.

"We're got Northampton and then Gloucester who are flying, so it's a really big couple of weeks coming up for us."

The Men in Black got back to winning ways on Boxing Day with a 61-29 win at home against Worcester Warriors.

In contrast, Northampton Saints had a challenging Christmas period, falling 41-27 to Harlequins at Twickenham.

The other changes to the Saracens squad see Theo McFarland coming into the back row and Elliot Daly being included on the left-wing.

Beaton is the final change to the team, coming in after Vincent Koch tested positive for Covid-19.

 

On the bench, Eroni Mawi will return to the matchday squad as cover in the front row, and Gareth Milasinovich is in line for his debut after joining on a two-month loan from Ulster.

Meanwhile, the Saints have also made four changes to the side that lost to Quins earlier this week.

Piers Francis and Rory Hutchinson make up a new centre partnership for Northampton, while tighthead prop Paul Hill comes into the front row to start alongside hooker Sam Matavesi and loosehead Alex Waller.

22-year-old lock Alex Coles is the final newcomer to the starting XV, freeing up Courtney Lawes to start in the back row.