The cream of Bermuda's rugby union players form the backbone of a touring squad that is aiming to boost the profile of the game in the Caribbean.

Six players -- Freedom Burrows, Bobby Hurdle, Rob and Tom Steinhoff, Josh McGavern and Jon Cassidy -- are representing the West Indies for their inaugural visit to England.

The squad, which also comprises of players from Barbados, the Caymans, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Trinidad and St Lucia, are scheduled to play five games over the next fortnight.

Today they play the Royal Navy, before further games against Hampshire, the Royal Air Force, Birkenhead Park and a Gloucester Combination side.

The tour will also form the part of an International Rugby Board documentary and will be covered by the BBC in England.

Hurdle, who recently returned to Bermuda after a spell as a professional player with English side Worcester, has the honour of captaining the side.

Tour manager Brian Stollmeyer, vice-president of the West Indies Rugby Union, said the players would not have much time to gel before being thrown into the thick of the action.

Speaking from Portsmouth, he said: "I think it will be very much a learning exercise. It's the first time we have got together in 25 years.

"We have players from eight different unions and some players live five thousand miles apart from one another. It's a huge area really, and none of them know one another particularly well.

"They had a run-out this evening and we have a proper practice in the morning. The run-out was just to loosen up and get the flight out of everybody.'' The tour will be a severe test of the side's capabilities but Stollmeyer, who played rugby in England while studying for his A-levels, said there was no point in playing teams they were on a par with or could beat.

"We didn't think it worth our while to come all this way and not play some good teams. We felt we needed to be tested and it will be interesting to find out where we stand, even though it's just the beginning,'' he said. "It's not worth us coming all this way to just play teams that are weak.'' As well as seeing where they stood in relation to longer established unions, Stollmeyer, who used to play for Trinidad, said the tour also aimed to develop relations between England the Caribbean.

"We can't afford to come on tour on a regular basis and the only way we are going to improve is if we can encourage teams from developed countries to come to us and to play regularly in the West Indies,'' he said.

Ability in the area differs between nations.

"It varies substantially. We have got six players from each of Bermuda and Trinidad and they are obviously much stronger than the likes of Guyana and perhaps Jamaica where we have only got one or two players from each country.

"Interest is picking up all the time. The reintroduction of rugby into the schools in the last five years is also beginning to show results.'' Technical ability was one of the areas where improvement was needed, he said, and this would be an area of focus during the trip.

"I think our forward game will benefit most. I think you'll find we have a lot of very exciting players, exciting runners, but their technique perhaps needs some work and I think they'll learn from experience,'' he said.

Stollmeyer said the West Indies association was working to a long-term plan.

"We formed an association with the United States and Canada called NAWIRA and we are going to work in conjunction with them to develop our game,'' he said.

West Indies squad: G Nicholson (Barbados); A Gibbon (Barbados); B.Hurdle (Bermuda); F.Burrows (Bermuda); R.Steinhoff (Bermuda); T.Steinhoff (Bermuda); J.McGavern (Bermuda); J.Cassidy (Bermuda); D.Bodden (Cayman); C.Law (Cayman); K.Vainquer (Guadeloupe); T.McAlmont (Guyana); A.Fong (Jamaica); O.Martin (Jamaica); K. St Catherine (St Lucia); A Fraser (Trinidad); R.Silverthorne (Trinidad); M.Hamilton (Trinidad).