By Geoff Webster BBC Scotland An announcement on the next Scotland rugby head coach is likely to be made before Christmas.
Attack coach Scott Johnson and former Glasgow head coach, Sean Lineen are the frontrunners for an interim appointment.
Andy Robinson ended his three-and-a-half year reign when he resigned after defeat in all three autumn Tests.
Scotland open their Six Nations Championship campaign against England at Twickenham on 2 February.
Scotland, who lost all of this year's Six Nations matches, have slipped to 12th in the world rankings following November defeats by New Zealand, South Africa and Tonga.
The dismal defeat by Tonga at Pittodrie was the last straw for former England and Edinburgh coach Robinson, who lost 10 of his last 13 matches.
Johnson is contracted to Scottish Rugby, having joined Robinson's staff as attack coach in time for a successful summer tour that yielded wins in Australia, Fiji and Samoa.
The 50-year-old Australian has international coaching experience with his homeland, Wales and was briefly in charge of the US Eagles.
Lineen is currently coaching the Scotland Under-20s in tandem with a head of player acquisition role after six years in charge of Glasgow Warriors.
The New Zealand-born former centre played 29 times for Scotland and was part of the 1990 Grand Slam winning side.
Former South Africa coaches Nick Mallett and Jake White have also been linked with the Scotland post.
Mallett stood down as Italy coach after the World Cup in 2011, while White is currently with Canberra-based side Brumbies.