Six Nations: Caelan Doris to make Ireland debut against Scotland

Leinster number eight Caelan Doris will make his Ireland debut in Saturday's Six Nations opener against Scotland.

To accommodate in-form Doris, new Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has moved regular number eight CJ Stander to blindside flanker.

Josh van der Flier makes up the back row with Peter O'Mahony, Lions captain in 2017, on the bench.

Conor Murray gets the nod over John Cooney at scrum-half, with Rob Herring starting at hooker.

Former Ireland Under-20s captain Doris, 21, faced tough competition from fellow uncapped Leinster team-mate Max Deegan.

Lions centre Robbie Henshaw is a replacement, with Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose starting in midfield.

Herring joins props Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong in the front row as the new Ireland coach resisted the temptation to hand a debut to hooker Ronan Kelleher from the start.

James Ryan and Iain Henderson continue their second-row partnership despite a return to form for Devin Toner.

Farrell has made five personnel changes from the side that fell to a heavy World Cup quarter-final defeat against New Zealand last October.

Connacht centre Aki, who was suspended for that game following a red card against Samoa, is preferred to Henshaw, who will offer cover for both centre and full-back on the bench.

With veteran full-back Rob Kearney seemingly not in Farrell's plans, Jordan Larmour gets his chance to nail down the position after some scintillating form with Leinster.

Ulster's Will Addison misses out on a place in the squad despite some impressive provincial form, although with his ability to play anywhere across the backline, he is likely to get his chance to shine at some point in the tournament.

Larmour will be flanked by Andrew Conway and Jacob Stockdale as Farrell selects the same back three that started in Ireland's best performance at the World Cup, against Saturday's opponents Scotland.

Scrum-half was viewed as perhaps the tightest call with Cooney enjoying a brilliant season with Ulster, however Farrell has kept his faith in two-time British and Irish Lion Murray who will partner new captain Johnny Sexton for the 57th time.

Ireland: J Larmour; A Conway, G Ringrose, B Aki, J Stockdale; J Sexton, C Murray; C Healy, R Herring, T Furlong; I Henderson, J Ryan; CJ Stander, J van der Flier, C Doris.

Replacements: R Kelleher, D Kilcoyne, A Porter, D Toner, P O'Mahony, J Cooney, R Byrne, R Henshaw.