Six Nations: Iain Henderson, Jack Conan and Mack Hansen come into Ireland team to face Scotland

Ulster captain Iain Henderson will make his first start of this season's Six Nations when Ireland host Scotland in Saturday's vital final match in Dublin.

The second row is one of three changes made by head coach Andy Farrell, with wing Mack Hansen and number eight Jack Conan also coming into the side.

Henderson starts in place of vice-captain James Ryan, who dropped out of the squad after a head-on-head collision with Charlie Ewels in last weekend's win over England.

Hansen comes in on the wing for Andrew Conway, who is carrying a knee injury and is out of the squad, while Conan plays instead of Peter O'Mahony who drops to the bench.

Ulster skipper Henderson replaced Ryan after just two minutes of last weekend's game.

That victory means Ireland go into Saturday's meeting at the Aviva Stadium knowing that victory would clinch the Six Nations title if England beat Grand Slam-chasing France.

Three wins and a loss to the French mean Farrell's men go into the final match of the tournament in second place in the table, two points behind behind the leaders.

Gregor Townsend's Scotland are fourth in the table with two wins and two losses.

Henderson, who has endured a frustrating season with injury and illness, spoke this week about how good it would be for this crop of Ireland players to lift silverware on home soil for the first time.

Conan returns to the starting team at number 8, having featured off the bench in each of the last two games, meaning that Caelan Doris moves to number six with O'Mahony on the bench.

Ulster second row Kieran Treadwell is named as a replacement following Ryan Baird's withdrawal through injury.

Ireland head coach Farrell has challenged his players to produce their best performance of the Guinness Six Nations and prevent Scotland spoiling the Dublin party.

Victory over the Scots on Saturday will secure the Triple Crown, while a subsequent slip-up from Grand Slam-chasing France against England in Paris would leave Farrell's side celebrating the championship title.

Ireland have not lifted silverware on home soil for 18 years and Farrell is determined to seize a rare opportunity at the Aviva Stadium.

"We've put ourselves in a position to do that, which is nice," he said.

"But, as you would expect me to say, it's just about this game, about our preparation.

"We're under no illusions that Scotland are going to be at their best, nothing to lose, a great side coming to the Aviva trying to spoil a little bit of a party.

"How do you manage that? You get across your preparation and you make sure that you take your learnings.

"And hopefully we're after our best performance of the tournament."

A combination of injuries and illness have meant Henderson has not enjoyed the game time he would have hoped for in this season's Six Nations, and he returned to Ulster earlier this month to play in their win over Cardiff.

Farrell admitted Henderson has elements of his game to work on but is looking forward to having him in his side on Saturday.

"He has learnt a lot because he is honest with himself and looks at his own game," the head coach said.

"Iain hasn't played much rugby at all this year but it has stood to him that he went back to Ulster and got an 80 minutes under his belt.

"He wasn't expecting to get on so soon in the game last week and for that reason alone I thought he did really well to dig in for 80 minutes. But there is work to do and that sharpens the mind for the big game ahead.

"He is a class, experienced player that has been around and done it for many years for us and for Ulster. He will have been frustrated regarding game time this year but has two solid 80 minutes under his belt now, some things to fix and this is a great opportunity for him to be at his best this weekend."

Looking more generally at his team, Farrell recognised the passing errors that were committed against England but assure they have been working on those areas in training.

He also spoke very positively about 23-year-old Australia-born wing Hansen, who only made his Test debut for Ireland in the win over Wales on the opening weekend of the Six Nations.

"Nobody makes an error on purpose and it is how you deal with them that matters. We watch, we learn and we are honest and the game will take its own shape," he observed.

"Mack has had a starting berth in a few matches and straight from the off he has been very impressive.

"When a guy comes in that hasn't got much international experience, to be able to learn, hit the ground running and get with the systems is tricky, but he has managed it seamlessly.

"He played the first three games and then had a week to sit out and take a breath with the pressure off. I'm sure that he has reflected and you could see that reflection week has been good for him because he has been great in training. "

Ireland: Keenan; Hansen, Ringrose, Aki, Lowe; Sexton, Gibson-Park; Healy, Sheehan, Furlong, Beirne, Henderson, Doris, Van der Flier, Conan.

Replacements: Herring, Kilcoyne, Bealham, Treadwell, O'Mahony, Murray, Carbery, Henshaw.