Woodward looks on as White awaits judgment

Clive Woodward and the England coaching panel have plenty on their collective plate as they prepare for next month's southern hemisphere extravaganza at Twickenham.

The scrum-half, hooker, second row and loose forward positions are far from settled after six weeks of unpredictable Premiership activity, but one small morsel of uncertainty will disappear this evening when Julian White, the Bristol prop, appears before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel in Newbury to answer allegations that he "used his head" during a wild and wonderful contest with Leicester nine days ago.

Not that anyone has accused White of thinking. Far from it. The aggressive West Countryman was dismissed for butting Graham Rowntree, a frequent front-row partner at international level, at the first scrum, little more than 90 seconds into the game.

Assuming the RFU tribunal find him guilty of the offence – and not even Bristol can plead innocence on behalf of their man, having already banned him for a fortnight – it is most unlikely that he will feature in Woodward's 22-man squad when the All Blacks come a-visiting on 9 November.

White's absence, and the fitness problems affecting the versatile Saracens prop David Flatman, would give Jason Leonard, the venerable Harlequin, an even-money shot of making the match-day party for the New Zealand Test and adding to his 97 England caps.

However, Bristol will argue that White's offence was committed under considerable provocation, and that it occupied a place at the lower end of the butting scale: more a rub of the forehead than a full "Glasgow kiss". If the tribunal buys those arguments, White may yet avoid having the book thrown at him.

Whatever happens, he will not participate in Bristol's Heineken Cup debut against Leinster in Dublin on Friday night. Nor will his fellow front-rower, the England international hooker Neil McCarthy, who damaged knee ligaments during the Leicester game and faces six months of enforced inactivity. "Neil played on for 50 minutes with that injury, which was a miracle in itself," said Peter Thorburn, the head coach. "We will miss his hard-nosed attitude to the game."

The odds for this season's Heineken Cup have Leicester as clear 11-4 favourites for a third successive title, with the Irish pair of Leinster and Munster at 6-1. The best the French can manage is Toulouse at 10-1, while both Edinburgh and Glasgow are away with the fairies at 50-1 and 80-1 respectively. All of which put Ian McGeechan, the Scotland coach, somewhat at odds with the analysts setting the prices.

"There is a real buzz about rugby in this country at the moment," claimed McGeechan, who has long been accustomed to watching his countrymen retreat from Europe with their tails concealed beneath their kilts. "We have finally accepted professionalism across the board and we are seeing the benefits of that in the Celtic Leagues.

"We have stepped up another level this season, and the Scottish sides in the Heineken Cup are in the best shape ever. I am sure they will make a big impact on the tournament, and the impact over the next two or three years will be bigger still."

Edinburgh, sitting pretty at the top of their Celtic League pool with a five-point lead over second-placed Neath, are the subject of considerable excitement north of Hadrian's Wall, not least because the former All Black captain Todd Blackadder is driving them to new heights.

"Blackadder is one of the most impressive men I have met in rugby," McGeechan gushed. "He is an absolute goldmine for the game up here."