The 2011–12 Top League was the ninth season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Suntory Sungoliath team defeated Sanyo Wild Knights by 47–28 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim their second 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.
Teams TeamRegionCoca-Cola West Red SparksFukuoka, KyushuFukuoka Sanix BluesFukuoka, KyushuKintetsu LinersOsaka, KansaiKobelco SteelersHyogo, KansaiNTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes, OsakaNEC Green RocketsChiba, KantoNTT Com Shining ArcsChiba, ChibaRicoh Black RamsTokyo, KantoSanyo Wild KnightsGunma, KantoSuntory SungoliathTokyo, KantoToshiba Brave LupusTokyo, KantoToyota VerblitzAichi, TokaiHonda HeatSuzuka, MieYamaha JubiloShizuoka, Tokai
Regular season Table Top League TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints DifferenceTry BonusLosing BonusPoints1Suntory Sungoliath131201512278+234 8 1 572Toshiba Brave Lupus131102475173+302 9 2 553Sanyo Wild Knights131102480324+156 8 1 534NEC Green Rockets13805349314+35 8 1 415Kintetsu Liners13805341311+30 5 2 396Kobelco Steelers13616349288+61 7 5 387Ricoh Black Rams13715386333+53 7 1 388Yamaha Jubilo13616407274+133 6 3 359NTT Com Shining Arcs13517322414−92 6 2 3010Toyota Verblitz13508341323+18 5 4 2911Fukuoka Sanix Blues13409254458−204 7 2 2512NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes132110291555−264 5 0 1513Honda Heat132110226479−253 2 1 1314Coca-Cola West Red Sparks131012285494−209 3 5 12 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 8 qualified for 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 regional leagues for 2012–13.Source:The Rugby Archive
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
Title play-offs Top 4 sides of the regular season competed in the Microsoft Cup (2012) knock-out tournament to fight for the Top League title. The top 4 teams of 2011–12 were Suntory Sungoliath, Toshiba Brave Lupus, Sanyo Wild Knights, and NEC Green Rockets.
Semi-finals
Final
Wildcard play-offs
The Top League teams ranked 5th and 8th played-off, and the teams ranked 6th and 7th played-off, with the winners qualifying for the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
So Kobe and Yamaha progressed to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.
Top League Challenge Series
Canon Eagles and Kyuden Voltex won promotion to the 2012–13 Top League via the 2011–12 Top League Challenge Series, while Kubota Spears and Toyota Industries Shuttles progressed to the promotion play-offs.
Promotion and relegation play-offs Two promotion/relegation matches (Irekaesen) were played. The Top League teams ranked 12th and 11th played-off against the Challenge 1 teams ranked 3rd and 4th respectively, for the right to be included in the Top League for the following season.
So Sanix and NTT Docomo remained in the Top League for the following season.
End-of-season awards
AwardWinner Tournament winner: Suntory Sungoliath Fair Play award: Toshiba Brave Lupus Best player of the season: George Smith (Suntory Sungoliath) Revelation of the season: Michael Leitch (Toshiba Brave Lupus) Most tries: Nemani Nadolo (NEC Green Rockets) Most kicks: Ayumu Goromaru (Yamaha Jubilo) Best referee of the season: Taizo Hirabayashi Special prize: Tomoaki Nakai (Toshiba Brave Lupus)First player to 100 Top League appearances
2012/2013 Team of the Season Pos Player TeamFB 15 Ayumu Goromaru Yamaha JubiloRW 14 Tomoki Kitagawa Sanyo Wild KnightsOC 13 Jaque Fourie Sanyo Wild KnightsIC 12 Kosei Ono Fukuoka Sanix BluesLW 11 Nemani Nadolo Sanyo Wild KnightsFH 10 Yasumasa Shigemitsu Kintetsu LinersSH 9 Atsushi Hiwasa Suntory SungoliathN8 8 Masato Toyoda Toshiba Brave LupusOF 7 Michael Leitch Toshiba Brave LupusBF 6 George Smith Suntory SungoliathRL 5 Hitoshi Ono Toshiba Brave LupusLL 4 Daniel Heenan Sanyo Wild KnightsTP 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama Suntory SungoliathHK 2 Shota Horie Sanyo Wild KnightsLP 1 Hisateru Hirashima Kobelco Steelers
References
External links 2011–12 Top League Fixtures