While the tournament is technically an amateur tournament the cup division often features ex-professional or internationally capped players such as former Welsh Captain Colin Charvis, former Australian Captain Jeremy Paul, world cup winner Joel Stransky and former British Lion John Bentley, featuring as 'guest' players for the tournament.

The oldest player in the Manila 10's was 66 year old Don Anderson, playing for the Extinct Volcanoes in the 2019 tournament.

The tournament draws most of the major amateur clubs in Asia such as the Shanghai Hairy Crabs, Seoul Survivors, Tokyo Gaijin, Taipei Baboons, and Hong Kong Football Club as well as teams from further abroad such as British Royal Gurkha Rifles Battalion's 'The Flying Kukris' rugby football club, who have been regular participants in the tournament since its creation.

The 2011 cup division was won by JML Welsh Warriors, an inaugural entry into the competition, who featured former Welsh Captain and British Lions player Colin Charvis as their guest player.

By 2006 the tournament had reached its current numbers of 32 teams across five divisions, playing 76 games over two days.