World rugby chiefs are firmly behind the West Indies bid to become a force in the game.

The International Rugby Board recently invited the Windies, who feature three Bermudians in their set-up, to the World Sevens Series in Britain.

The invitation, accepted on Monday by the team's Bermuda-based manager John L.Williams, will see them compete at both Twickenham in London and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff over the next few weeks.

Although still an amateur operation, the West Indies Rugby Football Union have taken great strides in a few short months.

Their players, who include Islanders Bobby Hurdle, Danny McGavern and Jon Cassidy, have gone from playing in front of a handful of people in their respective countries, to joining forces and performing in front of tens of thousands at last month's Hong Kong Sevens.

Now the squad will be rubbing shoulders with the likes of England, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji once again when they travel to Europe and take a further step to becoming a permanent member of the world rugby family.

Speaking from IRB headquarters in the Republic of Ireland, Simon Jelowitz, project manager of the World Sevens Series, said the board had been liaising with WRFU President Peter Borland and Williams for some time over plans for the Windies to become more involved on the world stage.

That coupled with their excellent performance in Asia led to the invite, he said.

"The West Indies competed very well at the Hong Kong tournament when they got to the Bowl final and unfortunately lost to Hong Kong and we were very keen to match their enthusiasm to play by trying to accomodate them where possible in the series,'' he said.

Jelowitz said the IRB were pleased with the direction in which the Windies were heading and said the board were doing their bit to assist where they could.

"I can't go into details with regards to the amount of funding that goes on, it's simply safe to say that the IRB dedicated 7.6 million last year to funding the game and, whilst I can't be specific about the West Indies, it is safe to say that member unions therein will have received some sort of funding,'' he said.

The Windies are looking for businesses to get on board and back their endeavours with cash in the form of sponsorship.

The majority of their needs will be met when they make the trek to Europe, but Williams said they were looking for a further $10,000 to help set up a training camp and buy new equipment.

"As I stressed to Mr Borland and Mr Williams, the way that the World Sevens Series works is that the host union is required to cover costs of return international travel, accomodation and meals throughout that tournament,'' said Jelowitz.

"So for both the London and Cardiff tournaments, the West Indies will not have to incur costs on those fronts at all. They will also be provided with training pitches and a minibus to shuttle them to and from training and to and from the stadium.'' The first round in London is to be played between May 26 and 28, with the final round at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on June 2 and 3.