The 2018 Top Challenge League was the second 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 second-tier 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 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 e ...

. It was played from 8 September to 9 December 2018, with eight participating teams.

NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka is a Japanese rugby union team owned by NTT DoCoMo. They qualified for the 2011–12 season and finished 12th place overall. The team rebranded in 2022, ahead of the rebranding of the Top League to the Japan Rugb ...

won the competition for the third time – having previously won in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and 2016–17 and qualified for the promotion play-offs, along with

Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars also known as Mitsubishi Juko Sagamihara Rugby Club, are a Japanese rugby union team based in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The owner of this club is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The club was founded in 1981. It ...

, Kintetsu Liners and Kurita Water Gush.

Kamaishi Seawaves Kamaishi Seawaves is a Rugby union football club in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 2001. At its inception, it was known as Nippon Steel Corporation Kamaishi. Current squad The Kamaishi Seawaves squad for the 2023 sea ...

and Chugoku Red Regulions finished seventh and eighth respectively to qualify for the

relegation play-offs In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

Competition rules

In January 2017, the

JRFU The Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU; ja, 日本ラグビーフットボール協会, ''Nihon Ragubi- Futtobo-ru Kyo-kai'') is the governing body for rugby union in Japan. It was formed 30 November 1926, and organises matches for the Japan natio ...

announced the format of the Top Challenge League competition. The competition was played in two stages. The First Stage was a round-robin format, where all eight teams played each other once. The top four teams in the First Stage progressed to Group A of the Second Stage, while the bottom four teams progressed to Group B. Each of these groups was another round-robin, with all four teams playing each other once. The four teams that competed in Group A progressed to promotion play-offs against the bottom four teams in the

2018–19 Top League The 2018–19 Top League was the 16th season of Japan's top-tier domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. Competition rules The sixteen Top League teams were divided into two conferences for the #First Stage, first stage of the competit ...

. The two team that finished bottom and second-bottom of Group B progressed to the

, along with the winners and the runners-up of the Regional Challenge, held between the champions of the Top East League, Top West League and Top Kyūshū League.

Teams

The following teams took part in the 2018 Top Challenge League competition:

First stage

Standings

The current standings for the 2018 Top Challenge League First Stage are:

Matches

The 2018 Top Challenge League First Stage fixtures are:

Round one

Round two

Round three

Round four

Round five

Round six

Round seven

Second Stage Group A

Standings

The standings for the 2018 Top Challenge League Second Stage Group A are: * Kintetsu Liners, Kurita Water Gush,

and

qualified for the promotion play-offs.

Matches

Round one

Round two

Round three

Second Stage Group B

Standings

The standings for the 2018 Top Challenge League Second Stage Group B are: *

Kyuden Voltex Kyuden Voltex is a Japanese rugby team owned by Kyushu Electric Power Co. (Kyūshū Denryoku). The nickname "Voltex" is a conflation of "Voltage" and "Techniques" and was decided after the team won promotion to the Top League. The team is based ...

and

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 ...

remain in the Top Challenge League for 2019. * Chugoku Red Regulions and

qualify for the

Matches

Round one

Round two

Round three

Relegation play-offs

* Top Challenge League side

won their match to remain in the Top Challenge League for

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. * Top Challenge League side Chugoku Red Regulions lost their match and was relegated to the Top Kyūshū League for 2019. * Top League East side Shimizu Blue Sharks won their match to win promotion to the Top Challenge League for

. * Top League West side Chubu Electric Power lost their match to remain in the Top League West for 2019. The matches played were:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Top Challenge League, 2018

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2018–19 in Japanese rugby union 2018–19 rugby union tournaments for clubs

Competition rules

Teams

First stage

Standings

Matches

Round one

Round two

Round three

Round four

Round five

Round six

Round seven

Second Stage Group A

Standings

Matches

Round one

Round two

Round three

Second Stage Group B

Standings

Matches

Round one

Round two

Round three

Relegation play-offs

See also

References