Former Rugby Football Union Vice-Chairman Fran Cotton has agreed to chair an independent review of the entire England structure after the national team exited the Rugby World Cup in the quarter finals.

Cotton will lead a panel of two or three which will include at least one person who has no rugby connections but the review is expected to place Rob Andrew’s role under question.

Cotton’s panel will review the performance of RFU’s professional rugby department and also assess Andrew’s own report into England’s failed World Cup campaign.

The panel are expected to undertake their review in November and make recommendations to the RFU’s management board and the council on December 2.

Rob Andrew currently holds the title of rugby operations director and has been nominally in charge of the whole England structure since the RFU failed to appoint a performance director after John Steele’s departure as chief executive.

Andrew revealed on Sunday that he had accepted the new position of professional rugby director a role which was created to oversee the whole England set-up and the RFU’s relationship with Premiership Rugby and the Championship but the appointment still has to be rubber stamped.

Cotton’s panel will also have the power to recommend the person that they believe should be in charge of the professional rugby department which could be Andrew or possibily Sir Clive Woodward.

Cotton has been involved in English Rugby for decades and was a leading critic of Steele’s decision to change the job description of the performance director, which led to Woodward pulling out of contention.

He told BBC Radio Five Live at the time: “It’s probably the most important role in English rugby and world rugby and he’s talking about downgrading the role to bring in Mr Average instead of Clive Woodward or (New Zealand coach) Graham Henry, the people England need.”

Cotton’s panel can also recommend changes to the England team’s management structure which is Martin Johnson and his assistants.

Johnson is considering his options and whether he wants to stay on after his contract expires on December the 21st.

Cotton has already branded England’s Rugby World Cup campaign a “failure” and said that he felt the squad had not improved under Johnson and that it lacked leadership.

“We were knocked out in the quarter-finals and we played poorly throughout the competition. It is a failure as far as we are concerned,” Cotton told Sky Sports News.

“Martin has now been in charge three-and-a-half years and it is very difficult to understand what style of play this England rugby team is all about.

“The basic skills of rugby at that level just aren’t good enough and I haven’t seen an improvement in the last three-and-a-half years.

“The players have got to take a huge responsibility. When they go on the pitch they are in charge of their own game and it was very obvious in this World Cup that there seems to be a lack of leadership.

“That is not a criticism of (captain) Lewis Moody, who has done a good job.

“Unfortunately Mike Tindall’s incident – forget the incident with the lady in the bar – what concerned me is that one of the leading players and the captain at that time was out at two in the morning and obviously absolutely hammered.

“That is not part of a professional athlete’s lifestyle and what example does that set to the younger players in the squad?”