The 2009–10 Top League was the seventh season of

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 ...

's domestic

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

competition, the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

. The

Toshiba Brave Lupus Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo is a Japanese rugby union team in the Top League. They are based in Fuchu, Tokyo, as is their local rival Suntory Sungoliath. They won the second ever Top League championship in the 2004-5 season and the Microsoft Cup i ...

defeated

Sanyo Wild Knights Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the l ...

by 6–0 in the final of the

Microsoft Cup The Top League Championship is Japan's highest-level knockout tournament for rugby union clubs. Held annually, the leading teams from the Top League regular season qualify for the playoffs to decide the Cup title. From 2018 onward, the All-Japa ...

to claim their fifth Top League championship. 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 Mie Honda Heat is a Japanese rugby union team based in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The owner of the club is Honda Motor. (Suzuka is known for the Suzuka Circuit and the presence of car companies.) They play in the Japan Rugby League One, ...

and

Ricoh Black Rams Black Rams Tokyo (formerly Ricoh Black Rams) is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Placed 10th in the 2004-2005 season which meant it had to win a play-off against one of the top regional teams to stay in the league, as it d ...

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

Regular season

Final standings

Fixtures and results

Round 1

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Round 2

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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

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Final

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Wildcard play-offs

The two second round winners qualified for the

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 champ ...

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

NTT Communications Shining Arcs Urayasu D-Rocks, commonly known as the D-Rocks, or the Shining Arcs, is a rugby union team owned by NTT Communications and is part of Japan's Rugby League One competition, currently in Division 2. Given the name, the team is based in Urayasu Ci ...

and

Toyota Industries Shuttles Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi (also called Toyota Jido Shokki as distinct from Toyota, which was renamed Toyota Verblitz) is a Japanese rugby team owned by Toyota Industries. They were promoted to Japan's top-flight league Top League for the ...

won promotion to the

2010–11 Top League The 2010–11 Top League was the eighth 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 their first Top League title. The Top L ...

via the 2010 Top League Challenge Series, while

Mazda Blue Zoomers Skyactivs Hiroshima (formerly Mazda Blue Zoomers) are a Japanese rugby union team who compete in the Japan Rugby League One. They were formerly owned by car manufacturers Mazda based in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. The team rebranded as Skyactivs Hi ...

and

Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars is a Japanese rugby union team based in Musashino, Tokyo. They won promotion to the Top League for one season in 2008–09 being relegated that same season. History The team was founded as Yokogawa Denki in 1946. ...

progressed to the

promotion play-offs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

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

Table notes * Pts = Points scored * T = Tries * C = Conversions * PG = Penalty Goals * DG = Drop Goals

End-of-season awards

References

External links

2009-10 draw

Team Profiles
(Japanese)

(Japanese)

(Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 Top League Japan Rugby League One 1 Japan Top