Richie Murphy: Ireland will adapt to 'heavy' pitch conditions

Head coach Richie Murphy says Ireland will have to adjust their gameplan accordingly to deal with some soft weather conditions at the World Rugby U20 Championships in South Africa.

The Six Nations Grand Slam winners get their Pool B campaign underway against England on Saturday at the Paarl Gymnasium, just outside Cape Town.

The squad arrived in South Africa on Tuesday, but preparations for Saturday's opener against England have been far from ideal, with torrential rain on the western cape making their training pitch in Hamilton 'practically unplayable', according to the head coach.

"We did a very light run on it on Wednesday, which was way below that standard that Junior World Championships should be training in," Murphy said.

"Today we got a decent run out, we got a new pitch and are in a good place now."

Ireland's meeting with England is the second of three games to be played at the Paarl venue on Saturday, with the teams unable to train at the ground on Friday in order to protect the surface.

"It's going to be interesting to see how it holds up. We've had a member of our staff at the pitch and he says it's in good condition. We'll go there with our kickers tomorrow and get a feel for it."

Having played four of their five Six Nations games this season on artificial pitches, the soft conditions in Paarl will likely impact Ireland's ability to play their preferred style of game, something Murphy says they will simply have to adjust towards.

"I don't think it will work in anyone's favour. Heavy pitches won't work in anyone's favour really.

"We're used to playing in a bit of wind and rain but as you say that, none of our Six Nations games were played in rain and heavy pitches. Most of them were played on artificial surfaces, so