Twickenham will not decide Sir Clive Woodward's successor as the England head coach for at least another month. The five-man panel set up to make the appointment, chaired by the former England centre John Spencer, will not hold its first meeting until the end of next week, when one of its members, Fran Cotton, will be away on holiday.

It will gather again at a date as yet unspecified in the week beginning October 11 when England's acting head coach Andy Robinson, who has made it clear he wants the job on a permanent basis, will be invited to make a presentation.

The panel has decided not to advertise for the position and Robinson remains the favourite to take over from Woodward having been an integral part of the management team for the last four years, though with the appointment likely not to be made until just before the start of the November internationals, Robinson would be left in an invidious position should he be knocked back. If he does get the appointment, the panel would have to decide whether to replace Woodward, whose responsibility was more of a manager than a coach.

Robinson prefers the track-suit to the blazer, but he would need someone to stalk the corridors of power and demand from the Rugby Football Union the best for the national squad in terms of hotels, flights and training facilities, not to mention access to players.

Robinson's former club, Bath, have not enjoyed the happiest of months. Without a point in the Premiership, they may be without their England lock Steve Borthwick for next week's visit to fellow strugglers Harlequins while Twickenham yesterday cut their international ticket allocation as punishment for tickets issued to the club last season finding their way on to the black market.

Borthwick will appear before an RFU disciplinary panel next Tuesday after being cited for alleged foul play during last Saturday's league defeat to Newcastle at the Recreation Ground.

Harlequins' Heineken Cup group match against Munster next January will be staged at Twickenham after the club accepted an invitation from the RFU which expects a large crowd to turn up, though the pool may have been decided by then.