England are set to break new ground during this season's Six Nations Championship by playing Test rugby at Twickenham on a Sunday to assist the BBC's efforts to maximise audience figures for the tournament.

Six Nations organisers will announce the confirmed dates shortly and it is anticipated that two of England's five games, Italy's visit to Twickenham in February and their final game against Ireland in Dublin in late March, will be played on a Sunday.

The BBC are unable to schedule three live games on the same day and are eager to offer armchair viewers live rugby on Sundays. All the unions involved would ideally prefer Saturday kick-offs but England have attracted good crowds for Sunday fixtures against the Barbarians in recent years.

The summer dispute between Clive Woodward and the leading Premiership clubs over international player release dates is also set to end in grudging compromise. The clubs felt they were being railroaded into an agreement at the end of last season but are finally prepared to agree to release their leading men for approximately 18 extra training days this season, only a couple fewer than Woodward had requested.

The Rugby Football Union, meanwhile, has urged all National One clubs eyeing promotion to demonstrate by the end of September they are on course to fulfil the criteria to enter the Premiership. Following the Rotherham debacle last season the RFU's chief executive Francis Baron has already visited the Yorkshire club once and is planning a second trip next month to discuss their progress.

The Scottish referee David McHugh, who dislocated a shoulder after being attacked by a fan during New Zealand's Tri-Nations victory in South Africa earlier this month, will return to international action when France host Canada on November 23.