2010–11 Top League

2010–11 Top League

Kicker Masakazu Irie of Sanyo, the 2010–11 winners.
Countries Japan Japan
Date 3 September 2010 – 10 January 2011
Champions Sanyo Wild Knights (1st title)
Runners-up Suntory Sungoliath

The 2010–11 Top League was the 8th season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Sanyo Wild Knights defeated Suntory Sungoliath 28-23 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim thei first Top League title.

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

Teams

Team Region Season
Coca Cola West Red Sparks Fukuoka, Kyushu 5
Fukuoka Sanix Blues Fukuoka, Kyushu 7
Kintetsu Liners Osaka, Kansai 5
Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers Hyogo, Kansai 8
Kubota Spears Chiba, Kanto 8
NEC Green Rockets Chiba, Kanto 8
NTT Shining Arcs Chiba, Chiba 1
Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo, Kanto 7
Sanyo Wild Knights Gunma, Kanto 8
Suntory Sungoliath Tokyo, Kanto 8
Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, Kanto 8
Toyota Verblitz Aichi, Tokai 7
Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi, Mizuho 1
Yamaha Jubilo Shizuoka, Tokai 8

Regular season

Final standings

Top League Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Toshiba Brave Lupus 131102483210+273 57
2 Sanyo Wild Knights 131102545163+382 55
3 Toyota Verblitz 131102446261+185 55
4 Suntory Sungoliath 131003395279+22 36
5 Kobe Steelers 13706395279+116 36
6 NEC Green Rockets 13706276332−37 34
7 Ricoh Black Rams 13607364389−25 32
8 Fukuoka Sanix Blues 13517357472−115 32
9 Kintetsu Liners 13607277344−67 31
10 Coca Cola Red Sparks 13508250438−188 28
11 Yamaha Jubilo 13508327504−177 27
12 NTT Shining Arcs 13409271343−72 24
13 Kubota Spears 131111224443−219 11
14 Toyota Industries Shuttles 131012229558−329 11

 • 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 2011–12.

Source:The Rugby Archive[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

    Round 3

    Round 4

    Round 5

    Round 6

    Round 7

    Round 8

    Round 9

    Round 10

    Round 11

    Round 12

    Round 13

    Title play-offs

    Top 4 sides of the regular season competed in the Microsoft Cup (2011) knock out tournament to fight for the Top League title. The top 4 teams of 2008–09 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 Sanix and Ricoh 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 Kobelco and NEC advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

    Challenge series

    Challenge 2

    The second-placed regional teams East Japan, West Japan, and Kyushu played each other in a round-robin tournament for the right to join Challenge 1.

    Honda Heat, Tokyo Gas Rugby Club, and Mazda Blue Zoomers competed in Challenge 2.[2]

    Final order: 1st-Honda, 2nd-Tokyo Gas 3rd-Mazda

    So Honda advanced to Challenge 1.

    Challenge 1

    The top-placed regional teams from East Japan, West Japan, and Kyushu were joined by the Challenge 2 winner to play each other in a round-robin tournament. The 1st and 2nd ranked teams were automatically promoted to the 2011–12 Top League, replacing the Top League teams ranked 13th and 14th that were automatically relegated. The teams ranked 3rd and 4th went through to the promotion and relegation play-offs against the Top League teams ranked 12th and 11th, respectively.

    NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes, Honda Heat, Canon Eagles, and Kyuden Voltex competed in Challenge 1.[2]

    Final order: 1st-NTT, 2nd-Honda, 3rd-Canon, 4th-Kyuden

    So NTT and Honda Industries were promoted to the Top League for the following season. Canon and Kyuden advanced to the promotion and relegation playoffs.

    Promotion and relegation play-offs

    Two promotion/relegation matches (Irekaesen) were played. The Top League teams ranked 12th and 11th played-off against the Challenge 1 teams ranked 3rd and 4th respectively, for the right to be included in the Top League for the following season.

    So NTT and Yamaha remained in the Top League for the following season.

    References

    1. ↑ "2010/11 Top League". The Rugby Archive.
    2. 1 2 "Japan - Top League Challenge 2010/11". rugbyarchive.net. Retrieved 21 November 2013.

    External links

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