2009–10 Top League

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
Date4 September 2009 - 9 January 2010
ChampionsToshiba Brave Lupus (5th title)
Runners-upSanyo 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
  • 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
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

Final standings
Top League Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Sanyo Wild Knights 131210534175+35959
2 Suntory Sungoliath 131120570195+37558
3 Toshiba Brave Lupus 131003436276+16052
4 Toyota Verblitz 131012394219+17548
5 Kobelco Steelers 13715343303+4038
6 Kubota Spears 13607313339−2631
7 Fukuoka Sanix Blues 13607311371−6031
8 Coca-Cola West Red Sparks 13706299448−14931
9 Yamaha Jubilo 13526311327−1430
10 NEC Green Rockets 13409224280−5625
11 Kintetsu Liners 13418218348−13023
12 Ricoh Black Rams 13409262422−16019
13 Honda Heat 131012255464−20910
14 Kyuden Voltex 130013199502−3034

 • The top 4 teams qualified to the title play-offs.
 • The top 4 teams also qualified for entry into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
 • Teams 5 to 10 qualified to the wildcard play-offs for entry into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
 • Teams 11 and 12 went through to the promotion and relegation play-offs against regional challengers.
 • Teams 13 and 14 were automatically relegated to the regional leagues for 2010–11.

[1]

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).
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
 • Difference between points for and against
 • Total number of points for
 • Number of matches won
 • Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
 • Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

    Fixtures and results

    Round 1

    Round 2

    Title play-offs

    Top 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

    Final

    Wildcard play-offs

    The two second round winners qualified for the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

    First round

    The 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

    The 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
    Main article: 2010 Top League Challenge Series

    NTT 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

    Two 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.

    So Kintetsu and Ricoh remained in the Top League for the following season.

    Top Ten Points Scorers
    Player Team Pts T C PG DG
    1Atsushi Tanabe Sanyo Wild Knights191448250
    2Ryan Nicholas Suntory Sungoliath173646170
    3Shaun Webb Coca-Cola West Red Sparks150228167
    4Shane Drahm Kubota Spears135228167
    5David Hill Toshiba Brave Lupus12243980
    6Ayumu Goromaru Yamaha Jubilo111027190
    7Yoshimitsu Kawano Ricoh Black Rams102123152
    8Orene Ai'i Toyota Verblitz8042151
    9Hirotoki Onozawa Suntory Sungoliath7014000
    10Tomoki Kitagawa Sanyo Wild Knights8042151

    Table notes

    • Pts = Points scored
    • T = Tries
    • C = Conversions
    • PG = Penalty Goals
    • DG = Drop Goals

    End of season awards

    References
    1. "2009/10 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
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