The 2009–10 Top League was the seventh season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated Sanyo Wild Knights by 6–0 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim their fifth Top League championship.
| 2009–10 Top League | |
|---|---|
 Season finale for 2009–10: Toshiba versus Sanyo. | |
| Countries |  Japan |
| Date | 4 September 2009 - 9 January 2010 |
| Champions | Toshiba Brave Lupus (5th title) |
| Runners-up | Sanyo Wild Knights |
The Top League is a semi-professional competition which is at the top of the national league system in Japan, with promotion and relegation between the next level down.
Changes
edit- Honda Heat and Ricoh Black Rams were promoted to the Top League, replacing IBM Big Blue and Yokogawa Atlastars who were relegated.
- Last season's rule change of allowing three overseas players on the field at any one time was altered for the 2009–10 season; one of the three overseas players must have already represented Japan, be currently eligible to represent Japan or eligible to represent Japan in the future.
- Teams are allowed to field one player from the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) outside the above restrictions on overseas players. That Asian player may have represented another country at Test, A or Sevens levels as long as that country is a Union member of the ARFU.
- Last season the top six finishers automatically qualified for the national championship; however, this season the top four qualify, with the teams that finish 5th to 10th playing off for the remaining two Top League qualifiers.
Teams
edit| Team | Region | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | Fukuoka, Kyushu | 4 |
| Fukuoka Sanix Blues | Fukuoka, Kyushu | 6 |
| Honda Heat | Suzuka, Mie | 1 |
| Kintetsu Liners | Osaka, Kansai | 4 |
| Kobelco Steelers | Hyogo, Kansai | 7 |
| Kubota Spears | Chiba, Kanto | 7 |
| Kyuden Voltex | Fukuoka, Kyushu | 3 |
| NEC Green Rockets | Chiba, Kanto | 7 |
| Ricoh Black Rams | Tokyo, Kanto | 6 |
| Sanyo Wild Knights | Gunma, Kanto | 7 |
| Suntory Sungoliath | Tokyo, Kanto | 7 |
| Toshiba Brave Lupus | Tokyo, Kanto | 7 |
| Toyota Verblitz | Aichi, Tokai | 6 |
| Yamaha Jubilo | Shizuoka, Tokai | 7 |
Regular season
editFinal standings
edit| Top League Table | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sanyo Wild Knights
|
13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 534 | 175 | +359 | 59 | |||||
| 2 |  Suntory Sungoliath
|
13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 570 | 195 | +375 | 58 | |||||
| 3 |  Toshiba Brave Lupus
|
13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 436 | 276 | +160 | 52 | |||||
| 4 |  Toyota Verblitz
|
13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 394 | 219 | +175 | 48 | |||||
| 5 |  Kobelco Steelers
|
13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 343 | 303 | +40 | 38 | |||||
| 6 |  Kubota Spears
|
13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 313 | 339 | −26 | 31 | |||||
| 7 |  Fukuoka Sanix Blues
|
13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 311 | 371 | −60 | 31 | |||||
| 8 |  Coca-Cola West Red Sparks
|
13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 299 | 448 | −149 | 31 | |||||
| 9 |  Yamaha Jubilo
|
13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 311 | 327 | −14 | 30 | |||||
| 10 |  NEC Green Rockets
|
13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 224 | 280 | −56 | 25 | |||||
| 11 |  Kintetsu Liners
|
13 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 218 | 348 | −130 | 23 | |||||
| 12 |  Ricoh Black Rams
|
13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 262 | 422 | −160 | 19 | |||||
| 13 |  Honda Heat
|
13 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 255 | 464 | −209 | 10 | |||||
| 14 |  Kyuden Voltex
|
13 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 199 | 502 | −303 | 4 | |||||
|
• The top 4 teams qualified to the title play-offs. | ||||||||||||||
|
Four points for a win, two for a draw, one bonus point for four tries or more (BP1) and one bonus point for losing by seven or less (BP2). | ||||||||||||||
Fixtures and results
editThis section needs expansion with: Results Rd 3 - 13 (source top-league.jp). You can help by adding to it. (November 2013) |
Round 1
edit| 4 September 2009 | Sanyo Wild Knights | 24–11 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | Prince Chichibu, Tokyo | ||
| 19:30 |
| 5 September 2009 | Ricoh Black Rams | 23–15 | Honda Heat | Prince Chichibu, Tokyo | ||
| 17:00 |
| 5 September 2009 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 19–12 | Kintetsu Liners | Level-5 Stadium, Fukuoka | ||
| 17:00 |
| 5 September 2009 | Toyota Verblitz | 18–18 | Yamaha Jubilo | Mizuho Stadium, Aichi | ||
| 18:00 |
| 5 September 2009 | Kobelco Steelers | 24–24 | Suntory Sungoliath | Nagai 2nd, Osaka | ||
| 18:00 |
| 5 September 2009 | NEC Green Rockets | 11–29 | Kubota Spears | Prince Chichibu, Tokyo | ||
| 19:00 |
| 5 September 2009 | Fukuoka Sanix Blues | 25–15 | Kyuden Voltex | Level-5 Stadium, Fukuoka | ||
| 19:00 |
Round 2
edit| 12 September 2009 | NEC Green Rockets | 6–29 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chiba | ||
| 17:00 |
| 12 September 2009 | Kintetsu Liners | 31–3 | Kyuden Voltex | Nagai 2nd, Osaka | ||
| 17:00 |
| 12 September 2009 | Kubota Spears | 18–11 | Honda Heat | Prince Chichibu, Tokyo | ||
| 18:00 |
| 12 September 2009 | Honda Heat | 19–45 | Toyota Verblitz | Suzuka Sports, Mie | ||
| 18:00 |
| 12 September 2009 | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks | 13–46 | Suntory Sungoliath | Kakidomari, Nagasaki | ||
| 18:00 |
| 12 September 2009 | Kobelco Steelers | 12–9 | Fukuoka Sanix Blues | Nagai 2nd, Osaka | ||
| 19:00 |
| 13 September 2009 | Ricoh Black Rams | 22–44 | Sanyo Wild Knights | Yamagata | ||
| 15:00 |
Title play-offs
editTop four sides of the regular season competed for the Top League Championship (the play-offs were not sponsored for the 2009–10 season). The teams competing were Toshiba Brave Lupus, Sanyo Wild Knights, Toyota Verblitz and Suntory Sungoliath.
Semi-finals
edit| 24 January 2010 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 35–24 | Suntory Sungoliath | |||
| 14:00 |
| 24 January 2010 | Sanyo Wild Knights | 25–21 | Toyota Verblitz | |||
| 14:00 |
Final
edit| 31 January 2010 | Toshiba Brave Lupus | 6–0 | Sanyo Wild Knights | |||
| 14:00 |
Wildcard play-offs
editThe two second round winners qualified for the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
This section needs expansion with: Results (source rugbyarchive.net). You can help by adding to it. (November 2013) |
First round
editThe Top League teams ranked 7th and 10th played-off for the right to meet the Top League team ranked 5th in the second round. The Top League teams ranked 8th and 9th played-off for the right to meet the Top League team ranked 6th in the second round.
So Coca-Cola West Red Sparks and NEC progressed to the second round.
Second round
editThe Top League team ranked 5th played-off against the winner of the teams ranked 7th and 10th, and the Top League team ranked 6th played-off against the winner of the teams ranked 8th and 9th. The two winning second round teams advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
So Kobe and NEC advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
Top League Challenge Series
editNTT Communications Shining Arcs and Toyota Industries Shuttles won promotion to the 2010–11 Top League via the 2010 Top League Challenge Series, while Mazda Blue Zoomers and Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars progressed to the promotion play-offs.
Promotion and relegation play-offs
editTwo promotion/relegation matches (Irekaesen) were played. The Top League team ranked 12th played-off against the Challenge 1 team ranked 3rd, and the Top League team ranked 11th played-off against the Challenge 2 team ranked 1st. The winners were included in the Top League for the following season.
| 13 February 2010 | Kintetsu Liners | 28–8 | Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars | |||
| 14:00 |
| 13 February 2010 | Ricoh Black Rams | 59–12 | Mazda Blue Zoomers | |||
| 14:00 |
So Kintetsu and Ricoh remained in the Top League for the following season.
Top Ten Points Scorers
edit| Player | Team | Pts | T | C | PG | DG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atsushi Tanabe | Sanyo Wild Knights |
191 | 4 | 48 | 25 | 0 |
| 2 | Ryan Nicholas | Suntory Sungoliath |
173 | 6 | 46 | 17 | 0 |
| 3 | Shaun Webb | Coca-Cola West Red Sparks |
150 | 2 | 28 | 16 | 7 |
| 4 | Shane Drahm | Kubota Spears |
135 | 2 | 28 | 16 | 7 |
| 5 | David Hill | Toshiba Brave Lupus |
122 | 4 | 39 | 8 | 0 |
| 6 | Ayumu Goromaru | Yamaha Jubilo |
111 | 0 | 27 | 19 | 0 |
| 7 | Yoshimitsu Kawano | Ricoh Black Rams |
102 | 1 | 23 | 15 | 2 |
| 8 | Orene Ai'i | Toyota Verblitz |
80 | 4 | 21 | 5 | 1 |
| 9 | Hirotoki Onozawa | Suntory Sungoliath |
70 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Tomoki Kitagawa | Sanyo Wild Knights |
80 | 4 | 21 | 5 | 1 |
Table notes
- Pts = Points scored
- T = Tries
- C = Conversions
- PG = Penalty Goals
- DG = Drop Goals
End-of-season awards
editThis section needs expansion with: Results. You can help by adding to it. (November 2013) |
References
edit- ^ "2009/10 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
External links
edit- 2009-10 draw
- Team Profiles (Japanese)
- Top League official site (Japanese)
- Top League video digest
- Final Table (Japanese)