Fran Cotton, Bill Beaumont and Club England chairman John Spencer will be joined by former Bath and England back Simon Halliday and the Rugby Football Unions (RFU) performance director Chris Spice.

Acting head coach Andy Robinson is a clear favourite to replace World Cup winner Woodward, who resigned after seven years in charge and is likely to make his presentation to the panel soon.

The five-man contingent, together with RFU chief executive Francis Baron, will offer a joint recommendation to RFU management board members, who will make the appointment.

The Club England panel is a very strong one, and reflects the importance of the appointment and the selection process, said ex-England and Lions centre Spencer.

It is essential that the successful applicant is the right person and has the aim of taking England through to the next Rugby World Cup in France.

I will be chairing a very experienced group, which includes the RFU performance director Chris Spice, who has played an instrumental part in the Elite Player Scheme agreement, and Simon Halliday, a Grand Slam winner with England in 1991 and 1992.

The remaining members of the team are former England captains, Fran Cotton and Bill Beaumont. Both have played for the British and Irish Lions, with Fran managing the successful 1997 tour and Bill, who will manage them in 2005.

I will be confirming the date of our first meeting shortly, but I expect it to be in the early part of next week.

While we are not setting a deadline for the appointment, I share the view of the RFU management board chairman Graeme Cattermole and chief executive Francis Baron that we do not intend to take any longer over this process than is necessary.