Saracens hooker Jamie George hopes a crunch clash with Exeter Chiefs will bring out the best in his team.

Second-placed Sarries will host the fourth-placed Chiefs on Sunday at the StoneX Stadium in the Gallagher Premiership with both teams chasing a semi-final spot.

Saracens are eight points behind leaders Leicester Tigers and 10 clear of the 2020 champions, who currently have 62 points. 

And George, 31, believes that their Sunday showdown will bring out the best in the two teams.

“Whenever you play Exeter, they are a very physical team, and they know the sort of game plan they want to put in place,” he said. 

“It’s going to be a big game for us.

“They’ve got great players all across the field and they utilise that and play to their strengths.

“They are a team we respect massively, and a team we also love playing against because it brings the best out of both sides.”

The European action has kept the Sarries occupied for the past two weeks and now they have two huge domestic fixtures ahead of them. 

Chiefs were beaten 26-10 by Munster last weekend in the last 16 knockout round of the Heineken Champions Cup to exit Europe, while Saracens beat Cardiff Rugby 40-33 in the Challenge Cup to earn a quarter-final against Gloucester.

Starting in the front-row will be Eroni Mawi, Jamie George and Vincent Koch with Nick Isiekwe and Tim Swinson combining in the second-row.

Captain Owen Farrell and Aled Davies will continue their partnership as half-backs whilst Nick Tompkins and Elliot Daly will return to midfield. 

Sitting on the bench and ready to make an impact at StoneX are the likes of Richard Barrington and Duncan Taylor. 

But George says his teammates have had a strong week of training ahead of the Chiefs’ visit to North London.

He added: “we’ve had really good preparation leading into it and I’m sure they’ve had the same.”