Tashon DeSilva and Dan Cole have been selected for the newly reformed West Indies team to play at the Las Vegas Invitational Amateur Sevens tournament this weekend.

The Bermuda pair were selected by Joe Whipple, the West Indies coach, after impressing during their performances for Bermuda at the Caribbean Championships and Glendale Sevens over the past several years.

Whipple, who coaches Barbados, was the West Indies coach when the team last competed at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2009.

DeSilva and Cole continue the proud tradition of Bermuda players who have represented the region on the international stage, following in the footsteps of Derek “Bobby” Hurdle Jr, Nathan Brown, Freedom Burrows, Jonathan Cassidy, Kris Furbert, Tom Healy, Dan McGavern, Josh McGavern, Rob Steinhoff and Tom Steinhoff, all of whom played for the side between 2000 and 2009.

The side will compete in the tournament’s Americas Cup, which features top amateur teams from around the globe, including Bermuda coach Waisale Serevi’s Select Team who have won the competition for the past four years.

West Indies opened with a 26-7 defeat by the Select team yesterday before bouncing back to turn over Tama Lae Lions 35-12. Cole was among the tryscorers.

DeSilva and Cole made their Bermuda debuts at the same tournament five years ago, and have been mainstays in the squad ever since. Impressive performances by the powerful DeSilva and mercurial Cole at the Caribbean Championships and Glendale 7s over the past few years impressed Whipple, who returns to the helm of the West Indies team that he coached from 2004 to 2009.

“Clearly, to be selected to play for the West Indies is important to the players in our region,” Whipple said. “I am very honoured to be working with these players, many of whom I have coached and some I have not. We are thankful to our benefactor who had the vision to revive an important legacy in West Indian rugby.”

Tom Healy, who was part of the last representative West Indies team, at the 2009 Hong Kong Sevens, was full of pride for his Bermuda team-mates. “Tashon has had his best season playing rugby this year, captaining the national sevens team and being the standout player of the Bermuda rugby league,” he said.

“It’s just reward for the sacrifice and commitment he displayed over the last year. Dan is another of Bermuda’s standout players who leads by example on the pitch. Dan was a key player in Bermuda’s recent success in Trinidad, where we narrowly lost to Mexico in the plate final. Both players will bring something different to the West Indies, with a combination of skill and brawn.”

DeSilva said: “When [Bermuda Sevens manager Jonathan Cassidy] he told me I had been selected to play for the West Indies, my heart stopped, my body started shaking with shock ... I couldn’t believe it.

“Great opportunities like this don’t happen often and I am honoured to be a representing Bermuda by playing in the West Indies team. Bobby Hurdle, Healy, Cassidy and others have also played for this team, and I am excited to keep the dream going, not just for them, as well as myself and all the young Bermudians with the desire to play rugby at the highest level.”

Cole was similarly honoured to be getting this opportunity. “I am very excited about the re-emergence of the West Indies Rugby 7s team. It’s a great opportunity for players in the region to make the next step up from our national teams and compete at a higher level. I am proud to have been selected and represent Bermuda in the West Indies team. It also shows that the hard work going into the Bermuda national sevens programme is being recognised.”

The invitational tournament, which is being played in the shadows of the Las Vegas Sevens that starts today at Sam Boyd Stadium, continues until tomorrow.