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2017–18 Top League
The 2017–18 Top League was the 15th season of Japan's top-tier domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The tournament was won by Suntory Sungoliath for the fifth time, beating Panasonic Wild Knights 12–8 in the final played on 13 January 2018. Kintetsu Liners were automatically relegated to the second-tier Top Challenge League competition for 2018 and NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes were also relegated after losing in their relegation play-off match. Competition rules In January 2017, the JRFU announced that the Top League competition would be held earlier in the year, in order to aid the Japanese Super Rugby franchise the Sunwolves' preparations for the following season. The sixteen Top League teams would be divided into two conferences for the first stage of the competition; each team would play the seven other teams in their conferences once, plus an extra six matches against teams in the opposite conferences for a total of thirteen matches. All sixteen teams will ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans Japanese archipelago, an archipelago of List of islands of Japan, 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa Island, Okinawa. Tokyo is the Capital of Japan, nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated and Urbanization by country, urbanized. About three-fourths of Geography of Japan, the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Top Challenge League
The Top Challenge League was a professional rugby union competition in Japan. It was the second-highest level of rugby competition in the country and is a companies league; all the teams are owned by major companies and the players are generally employees of their company. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the Top League Challenge Series in 2003 in order to give teams playing in the second-tier regional leagues a pathway to progress to the top tier Top League; this became the Top Challenge League in 2017 when a second-tier league was introduced. The competition was disbanded following the creation of the fully-professional Japan Rugby League One ahead of 2022, with the Top League and Top Challenge League being absorbed together to form one three division tournament. History For the 2003–04 season, a Top League competition was created as the top-tier competition in Japan, consisting of twelve teams. All remaining teams were placed in one of three regional leagues, as follows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kobelco Steelers
The Kobelco Kobe Steelers are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kobe Steel, and based in Kobe. They were the first ever Top League champions when the League started in the 2003-2004 season. The team rebranded as Kobelco Kobe Steelers ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the Japan Rugby League One in 2022. Honours * Top League: ** Champions: 2003–04, 2018-19 Personnel Current management team Current squad The current Kobelco Kobe Steelers squad for the 2023 season is: * * denotes players qualified to play for the Japan national rugby union team, Japan on dual nationality or residency grounds. Past players Japanese players * Toshiyuki Hayashi * Ian Williams (rugby union), Ian Williams * Seiji Hirao * Yuya Saito * Kensuke Iwabuchi * Daisuke Ohata * Andrew Miller (rugby player), Andrew Miller Foreign players * Brodie Retallick * Andy Ellis (rugby union), Andy Ellis * Dan Carter * Adam Ashley-Cooper * Aaron Cruden * Andries Bekker * Jacque Fourie * Ron Cribb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kansai
The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Hyōgo and Shiga Prefecture, Shiga, often also Mie Prefecture, Mie, sometimes Fukui Prefecture, Fukui, Tokushima Prefecture, Tokushima and Tottori Prefecture, Tottori. The metropolitan region of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto (Keihanshin region) is the second-most populated in Japan after the Greater Tokyo Area. Name The terms , , and have their roots during the Asuka period. When the old provinces of Japan were established, several provinces in the area around the then-capital Kyoto were collectively named Kinai and Kinki, both roughly meaning "the neighbourhood of the capital". Kansai (literally ''west of the tollgate'') in its original usage refers to the land west of the Osaka Tollgate (), the border between Yam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All-Japan Rugby Football Championship
The All-Japan Rugby Football Championship (日本ラグビーフットボール選手権大会 ''Nihon Ragubi- Futtobo-ru Senshuken Taikai'') is played at the end of the season and is doubling as the title playoff in the Top League. The first championship was played in 1963 and won by Doshisha University RFC which beat Kintetsu (now Kintetsu Liners) 18–3. Before that the NHK invitation cup was played three times, 1960-2. Qualifying 2009–2017 The All-Japan Rugby Football Championship was expanded from 8 to 10 teams for 2009 with the addition of two more Top League sides. For 2010, the top four Top League sides automatically qualify for the Championship, while the six sides that finish fifth to tenth play off to determine the last two Top League sides. 2017–present With the new Top League system, the teams in the title playoff will have this playoff double as this competition. No university teams will compete. NHK Cup Finals All Japan Rugby Football Championship fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Title Play-offs
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the first and last name (for example, ''Graf'' in German, Cardinal in Catholic usage (Richard Cardinal Cushing) or clerical titles such as Archbishop). Some titles are hereditary. Types Titles include: * Honorific titles or styles of address, a phrase used to convey respect to the recipient of a communication, or to recognize an attribute such as: ** Imperial, royal and noble ranks ** Academic degree ** Social titles, prevalent among certain sections of society due to historic or other reasons. ** Other accomplishment, as with a title of honor * Title of authority, an identifier that specifies the office or position held by an official Titles in English-speaking areas Common titles * Mr. – Adult man (regardless of marital status) * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunwolves
The Sunwolves (Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...: ) – previously known as the HITO-Communications Sunwolves for sponsorship reasons – were a professional rugby union team and Japan's representative team in SANZAAR's international Super Rugby competition. The team was based in Tokyo, Japan, but also played some home matches in Singapore. They made their debut in Super Rugby in 2016 Super Rugby season, 2016. In March 2019, it was announced that 2020 Super Rugby season, 2020 would be the final season for the Sunwolves, after failing to negotiate a contract due to financial considerations. With the suspension of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Sunwolves being declined entry into the replacement Super Rugby AU competition in Australia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hemisphere competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986, with teams from a number of southern nations, the Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from 3 countries: Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The Super 12 was established by SANZAR after the sport became professional in 1995. At its peak the tournament featured the top players from nations representing 16 of the 24 top-three finishes in the history of the Rugby World Cup. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the competition to split into three, the reformed competition in 2021 and beyond will only include Oceanian clubs representing Australia, New Zealand and from the Pacific islands (specifically a Fijian team, and a New Zealand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
