The 2016–17 Top League is the 14th season of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's domestic

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition, the

Top League Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as 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 ...

. It kicked off on 26 August 2016 and the final round of league matches were played on 14 January 2017.

Teams

The only change to the make-up of the league was the Challenge One winner

Munakata Sanix Blues , formerly ''Fukuoka Sanix Blues'' and ''Fukuoka Sanix Bombs'', was a Japanese rugby union team based in Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Founded in April 1994 (Heisei 6), the team rose rapidly through the Kyūshū leagues and was in the Top ...

replacing

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

Competition

The regular season saw all 16 teams competing in a round-robin style tournament where they played each team in the league once. Unlike previous seasons, there were no title-play-offs, and the team on top of the league after the round-robin stages was crowned the champion. The top three teams progressed to the 54th All Japan Rugby Football Championship.

Standings

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. Conveniently, the team uses Suzuka to jog ...

were relegated to the new second-tier Top Challenge League.

Matches

The following matches were played during the 2016–17 Top League competition:

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

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Round 14

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Round 15

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Top League Challenge Series

Hino Red Dolphins, Kyuden Voltex and

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 ...

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/relegation play-offs

At the end of the season, there were three promotion/relegation play-offs for three places in the 2017–18 Top League. The teams ranked 13th, 14th and 15th in the Top League played off against the teams ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Top League Challenge 1. Coca-Cola Red Sparks,

Kintetsu Liners Hanazono Kintetsu Liners are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kintetsu Corporation which was founded in 1929. They have won the All-Japan Championship three times as an amateur team. Their home is at Hanazono Rugby Stadium, which was also ...

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 ...

qualified from the Top League relegation play-off zone, while Hino Red Dolphins, Kyuden Voltex and

qualified from Challenge 1. The following matches were played in the series: ---- ---- ---- * Coca-Cola Red Sparks,

and

remain in the Top League for the 2017–18 season. * Hino Red Dolphins, Kyuden Voltex and

qualify to the second-tier Top Challenge League for the 2017–18 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Top League Japan Rugby League One