The right boot of former England captain Owen Farrell proved too hot to handle for Exeter Chiefs, as they went down to a 40-22 defeat at Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership.

There was nothing between the sides in the opening half, as tries from James Hadfield and Ivan van Zyl for Sarries were matched by Olly Woodburn and Greg Fisilau going over for the Chiefs, with both teams missing the players called up for Six Nations duties.

Locked at 15-15 going into the second period, Sarries edged in front with a try from Juan Martin Gonzalez, pouncing on a mistake from Exeter.

The Chiefs replied with one of the great tries of any season. Josh Hodge picked up the ball on his own line, danced through the Sarries to reach hallway, slipped a pass to Woodburn, who moved the ball on to Stu Townsend and then Rus Tuima for a wonderful score.

Unfortunately, that was good as it got for the Chiefs, as Sarries piled over two more tries, plus a penalty and drop goal from Farrell, who finished the game with 15 points to his name.

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter told BBC Radio Devon: "To be fair, we probably got what we deserved.

"Rugby's a good game, you tend to get what you deserve and I think Saracens got what they deserved, they held things together for longer than we did and they certainly were more clinical, more accurate.

"It's a frustrating game for us because we've turned up, we've put a lot into the game and ultimately too many individual mistakes have just killed us.

"It was almost like everybody who had a mistake in them in an area of their game made it. They just added up and added up and added up until there were so many through the game that we just couldn't get that continuity.

"Our fight's there, our spirit's there, I can work with that, that's great to have, but actually our accuracy's just missing a little bit in these past couple of weeks."

On Sunday, Exeter Chiefs Women won 54-3 at Sale Sharks.