The 2016–17 Top League is the 14th season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. 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 replacing NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes.
TeamRegionCoachCaptainCanon EaglesMachida, Tokyo, Kantō Yoji Nagatomo Yusuke NiwaiCoca-Cola Red SparksFukuoka, Kyushu Akihiro Usui Kouta YamashitaHonda Heat Suzuka, Mie Tomoaki Fujimoto Daisuke KonishiKintetsu LinersHigashiosaka, Osaka, Kansai Akira Tsuboi Daiki ToyotaKobelco SteelersKobe, Kansai Jim McKay Daiki HashimotoKubota Spears Abiko, Chiba, Kantō Frans Ludeke Harumichi TatekawaMunakata Sanix Blues Munakata, Fukuoka, Kyushu Yuichiro Fujii Eito TamuraNEC Green RocketsAbiko, Chiba, Kantō Peter Russell Sunao TakizawaNTT Com Shining ArcsChiba, Chiba, Kantō Rob Penney Daisuke KuriharaPanasonic Wild KnightsOta, Gunma, Kantō Robbie Deans Shota HorieRicoh Black RamsTokyo, Kantō Damien Hill Takeshi MabuchiSuntory SungoliathFuchū, Tokyo, Kantō Keisuke Sawaki Yutaka NagareToshiba Brave LupusFuchū, Tokyo, Kantō Teppei Tomioka Michael LeitchToyota Industries ShuttlesAichi, Mizuho Masaya Niu Yuga TakadaToyota Verblitz Toyota, Aichi, Tokai Hiroshi Sugawara Taiyo AndoYamaha JúbiloIwata, Shizuoka, Tokai Takanobu Horikawa Takeshi Hino
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
Top League - League StageClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints DifferenceTry BonusLosing BonusPoints 1 Suntory Sungoliath 15 15 0 0 563 184 +379 11 0 71 2 Yamaha Júbilo 15 14 0 1 580 208 +372 11 0 67 3 Panasonic Wild Knights 15 13 0 2 579 268 +311 9 1 62 4 Kobelco Steelers 15 10 0 5 473 328 +145 7 1 48 5 NTT Communications Shining Arcs 15 9 0 6 336 292 +44 4 1 41 6 Ricoh Black Rams 15 8 0 7 390 362 +28 4 4 40 7 Canon Eagles 15 8 0 7 379 336 +43 2 3 37 8 Toyota Verblitz 15 7 0 8 353 332 +21 4 4 36 9 Toshiba Brave Lupus 15 6 0 9 351 381 −30 4 6 34 10 NEC Green Rockets 15 6 1 8 337 401 −64 3 2 31 11 Munakata Sanix Blues 15 7 0 8 280 481 −201 0 1 29 12 Kubota Spears 15 6 1 8 271 387 −116 1 1 28 13 Kintetsu Liners 15 3 0 12 268 417 −149 0 6 18 14 Coca-Cola Red Sparks 15 3 0 12 239 478 −239 2 3 17 15 Toyota Industries Shuttles 15 3 0 12 292 539 −247 1 3 16 16 Honda Heat 15 1 0 14 274 571 −297 0 3 7Updated: 15 January 2017 Source: Teams 1 to 3 (Green background) advance to the 54th All Japan Rugby Football Championship. Teams 13 to 15 (Blue background) go on to the 2016–17 Top League relegation play-offs. Team 16 (Red background) will be automatically relegated to the 2017 Top Challenge League.
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
Honda Heat 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 progressed to the promotion play-offs.
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 and Toyota Industries Shuttles qualified from the Top League relegation play-off zone, while Hino Red Dolphins, Kyuden Voltex and Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars qualified from Challenge 1.
The following matches were played in the series:
Coca-Cola Red Sparks, Kintetsu Liners and Toyota Industries Shuttles remain in the Top League for the 2017–18 season. Hino Red Dolphins, Kyuden Voltex and Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars qualify to the second-tier Top Challenge League for the 2017–18 season.
References