Sought after rugby league refugee Sonny Bill Williams revealed today that a Middle Eastern connection in his family could qualify him to play for the Sultan of Brunei's national rugby union side.

"My aunt's third cousin on my mother's side was on an exchange scheme in Brunei, so I guess that qualifies me for their World Cup team," Williams said in an interview with the Brunei Rugby Monthly.

"The Sultan has also promised to grease the wheels for me with a large cash donation, so that would be an incentive of course," he said.

The former Bulldogs and Kiwis star, now plying his trade in the 15-man code in France, also revealed that he was considering offers from the nascent rugby teams of the oil rich states of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

"The half-brother of my great uncle's godson is a short-order cook at the Qatar Ramada Renaissance, so there's clearly an opening for me there," Williams said.

Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill - who is pushing the idea of an annual Bledisloe Cup series in the Gulf - is believed to be interested in advancing Williams' case for inclusion in a Gulf states super team.

"We'd really like to play a separate Bledisloe Cup tripartite series involving an Arab invitation side in Dubai," O'Neill said. "We think Sonny Bill could be the marquee player in the Arab team. He has a Middle Eastern family connection, so there's clearly a branding opportunity there and we'd like to monetise that."

Asked about the difficulties of playing rugby in a climate which averages 45 degrees celsusis, the Australian rugby impresario said Dubai was building a rugby stadium with astroturf under a perspex dome especially for the series.

Awarded the construction contract for the stadium project is Australian building giant Leighton Holdings, upon whose board O'Neill is a director. The ARU boss' business connections with Al Jazeera television also suggests that a lucrative Gulf media rights deal is in the offing.

"Longer term, we'd like to host a World Cup in the Middle East. But I think we first need to persuade South Africa and the New Zealanders to shift their Currie Cups and NPCs there," he said.

Asked about whether how the Antipodean players would tolerate the Gulf states' ban on alcohol, O'Neill said he had arranged for a specially edited version of the Koran to be the official codebook for player behaviour.

"In this one, Mohammed says having a tipple is OK, so we should be sweet on that."