The Yellow Sea Cup (simplified Chinese: 黄海橄榄球杯; traditional Chinese: 黃海橄欖球杯; pinyin: Huánghǎi Gǎnlǎnqiú Bēi), (formerly known as the China Pub Company Yellow Sea Cup) is an annual rugby union competition currently involving clubs from four cities in China and South Korea. The competition was launched in 2005 by Simon Drakeford, Ted Gray and Mark Thomas. The Yellow Sea Cup was sponsored by China Pub Company in seasons 2008–09 (that is when its official name was "China Pub Company Yellow Sea Cup"). In total, three teams contest the league. The tournament is held from April to November, with various stages scheduled around domestic club competitions. There were plans to start a second division from 2010, but the idea was abandoned due to lack of sponsorship. The 2011 tournament was won by Devils of Beijing in Shanghai on November 19 in a match against their arch-rivals, Shanghai Hairy Crabs. This victory made Beijing Devils the most successful team ever, winning the competition four times. Shanghai Rugby Football Club also participated. They play at the 1,000-capacity SAS Rugby Field. History Early history For nearly 10 years the expatriate club teams in Seoul, Beijing and Shanghai had found it difficult to play regular rugby games. Games that were truly competitive were even harder to find. The regular fixtures tended to be against the same local opposition which while a lot of fun was repetitive. Other matches were either hosting touring teams or going on tour around Asia and beyond. With this background, the Chairman of the Beijing Devils Rugby Club, Simon Drakeford, and the President of the Seoul Survivors Rugby Club, Ted Gray were chatting at the annual Manila 10s tournament in March 2004 and quickly agreed we needed to organise a tournament. They quickly brought in one of the founders of the Shanghai Hairy Crabs Rugby Club, Mark Thomas and started hatching plans for a league style tournament. The plans were developed in 2004. It was envisaged that having regular games between the 3 clubs would allow each club to play a regular scheduled 4 games each year. As there was a cup at stake it was hoped that the competition would give each team a reason to train and a truly competitive game. The format of playing home and away each year was agreed, with each half of the year having one home game and one away game. Having sorted this out