The 2009–10 Top League was the seventh season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Toshiba Brave Lupus defeated the Sanyo Wild Knights by 6–0 in the final of the Microsoft Cup 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 and Ricoh Black Rams 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 TeamRegionSeasonCoca-Cola West Red SparksFukuoka, Kyushu4Fukuoka Sanix BluesFukuoka, Kyushu6Honda HeatSuzuka, Mie1Kintetsu LinersOsaka, Kansai4Kobelco SteelersHyogo, Kansai7Kubota SpearsChiba, Kanto7Kyuden VoltexFukuoka, Kyushu3NEC Green RocketsChiba, Kanto7Ricoh Black RamsTokyo, Kanto6Sanyo Wild KnightsGunma, Kanto7Suntory SungoliathTokyo, Kanto7Toshiba Brave LupusTokyo, Kanto7Toyota VerblitzAichi, Tokai6Yamaha JubiloShizuoka, Tokai7
Regular season
Final standings Top League TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints DifferenceTry BonusLosing BonusPoints1 Sanyo Wild Knights131210534175+359 592 Suntory Sungoliath131120570195+375 583 Toshiba Brave Lupus131003436276+160 524 Toyota Verblitz131012394219+175 485 Kobelco Steelers13715343303+40 386 Kubota Spears13607313339−26 317 Fukuoka Sanix Blues13607311371−60 318 Coca-Cola West Red Sparks13706299448−149 319 Yamaha Jubilo13526311327−14 3010 NEC Green Rockets13409224280−56 2511 Kintetsu Liners13418218348−130 2312 Ricoh Black Rams13409262422−160 1913 Honda Heat131012255464−209 1014 Kyuden Voltex130013199502−303 4 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 2010–11.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
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
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 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 and Toyota Industries Shuttles won promotion to the 2010–11 Top League via the 2010 Top League Challenge Series, while Mazda Blue Zoomers and Yokogawa Musashino Atlastars progressed to the promotion play-offs.
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 PlayerTeamPtsTCPGDG1Atsushi Tanabe Sanyo Wild Knights1914482502Ryan Nicholas Suntory Sungoliath1736461703Shaun Webb Coca-Cola West Red Sparks1502281674Shane Drahm Kubota Spears1352281675David Hill Toshiba Brave Lupus122439806Ayumu Goromaru Yamaha Jubilo1110271907Yoshimitsu Kawano Ricoh Black Rams1021231528Orene Ai'i Toyota Verblitz80421519Hirotoki Onozawa Suntory Sungoliath701400010Tomoki Kitagawa Sanyo Wild Knights8042151
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) Top League official site (Japanese) Top League video digest Final Table (Japanese)